How Does Bierce Use Imagery In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

630 Words2 Pages

The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is about a man, Peyton Farhquhar, who is getting hanged but fell into a river. He swims while dodging bullets, and manages to get out and into a forest. He walks through the night and to his house to see his wife. However, right before he gets to his wife he dies. Bierce uses imagery and symbolism to reveal that peaceful hallucinations in difficult situations can make pain a little easier. The imagery Bierce utilized revealed that in order to make pain a little easier in difficult situations, peaceful hallucinations can assist. The narrator describes the scenery and setting of the area around Peyton Farhquhar before his hanging. However as Farhquhar escapes his hanging, the narrator describes in great detail the landscape that he travels through. The narrator described, “As he pushes open the gate and passes up the wide white walk, he sees a flutter of female garments...an attitude of matchless grace and dignity” …show more content…

As Farhquhar opens the gate, he sees his wife at the bottom of the steps waiting for him with a big smile across her face. This means that a peaceful place for Peyton was his house and seeing his wife. As Peyton is dying he imagines his wife and home which helps make the pain of his death a little less painful. This also means that because Peyton was dying and hallucinating something to give him peace, he was able to die with serenity and calm. This matters because sometimes when people die it can be extremely stressful for them and the people around them. Being able to know that a loved one died while thinking about something they loved, could assist in giving people

Show More
Related

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce Analytical Paper

    1863 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Baybrook, “Peyton Farquhar believes -- as do the readers -- that he has escaped execution and, under heavy gunfire, has made his way back home” (Baybrook). One of Bierce’s main means to achieve this goal of forcing the reader to buy into his delusion is ‘time’. Because ‘time’ is utilized to calibrate human experiences, it becomes obscure, altered and split in times of extreme emotional disturbance. The time that is required for hanging Farquar seems to be indefinite, however, Bierce goes the extra mile and indicates that there is a certain ‘treshold of death’ that lingers beyond recognition. When it is exceeded, it results in a distorted and blurred pe...

    Read More

  • Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bierce broke this story down into three parts. The first part of the narrative creates an atmosphere with the setting at Owl Creek Bridge. Great detail is told here as to who is present at the scene, what is happening, what the scene looks like, etc. But the reader only receives ideas and thoughts from one person, Peyton Farquar. The first part as like the other two parts of this story is written very systematically and clear. Even with such a structured set up, the author still manages to put great anticipation and fearsome emotion into the near end of the first part of this story. At this point the author makes the reader think Peyton is devising a way to set his hands free from the rope thereby beginning his journey to escape home.

    Read More

  • Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    In writing this story, Bierce is commenting on war itself and the contrast between this romanticized tale of heroism and the gruesome reality the hundreds of thousands of men had to face, and still have to face to this very day. The true horrors of war are never normally publicized, and this is why the populace is willing to go and fight. In the case of Peyton Farquhar, this ignorance lead to his blind patriotism, which in turn lead to his death. As the narrator relates to the reader: “Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with the gallant army [...] and he chafed under the inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction.” (Bierce 2). The aforementioned quote is most definitely an affirmation of the grandeur of the military, and this is the perspective that Peyton Farquhar and many men shared. It is this illusion of grandeur that corrupts many men (and women) to head out and die in horrible

    Read More

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is true that in all great literature. Clues which later seem obvious are often undetected until the story’s plot is resolved. The reader is unaware of the foreshadowing until the plot comes together. Ambrose Bierces " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and " A Horseman In The Sky" identify literary elements supporting this thought.

    Read More

  • Hallucination At Owl Creek Bridge

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lucy Bednar explains in her criticism that Bierce uses three different voices throughout his story. In the first part of the story Bierce set up the scene. There is a man, Peyton, with a noose around his neck about to be hanged by the Northern soldiers during the civil war. Peyton is barely standing on a plank of the bridge and there are soldiers all over the place ready to

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Tell Tale Heart And An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most people have had an intense realistic dream before. When you’re in such a deep dream that it seems to be so real, they can be filled with many different emotions. Sometimes the deep dream can be filled with happiness, desires, and outcomes that people hope will happen someday. On the other hand, they could be filled with sad, depressing and bleak emotions which most people fear. Occasionally, it will occur that a dream will consist of a mix of these countless emotions, which consume the victim's mind. This is the case for two similar short stories. Written by Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” is about a man by the name of Peyton Farquhar, who is slowly being

    Read More

  • An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    People can easily recognize that a butterfly, a horse, or a tree are alive and that a

    Read More

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    He was a slave owner, a politician, a secessionist, meaning he was devoted to the Southern cause of seceding from the United States. He was not allowed to be in the army, for a reason that is irrelevant to the story, according to the narrator; however, he does whatever job he can in aid of the South, as he is of good character and faith (655). This is a very important detail to the story, as Farquhar is being hanged when the story begins. Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is an antiwar short story. It shows the futility and waste of war....

    Read More

  • An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

    1285 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story starts by creating curiosity with the revelation that a man will be hung in the owl creek bridge. At that moment the reader does not know the reasons for which the man will be sentenced. In the second section, the name of the man who will be hanged is mentioned, the motives for his crime and how he was captured. The final section illustrates the struggle Peyton Farquhar was facing and the events that went through your mind at that moment. He imagined/dream that he escape and peaceful return to their home. But the reality is another and his life ends in darkness and silence. (Bierce 201-209)

    Read More

  • An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    If the Peyton Farquhar family tree is one that is well known, then most people in the village must be aware of his whereabouts. "Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause". (Bierce Section II) The phrase "being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician" is Bierce's own use of an aphorism, a tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion. Bierce also uses a great deal of imagery, not only in this section but the entire short story as well, to put a strong visual into the reader's mind of how the war is being fought.

    Read More

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theme in “An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge” is brought together by three necessary literary elements. The author incorporates symbolism into the story to help support the theme that nobody can escapes death and how thoughts in the mind are so substantial in the consciousness that it can take over the reality. The author uses symbolism to support the theme that nobody can escape death Bierce showed the piece of driftwood slowly being carried away. That piece of driftwood brought hope to Peyton Farquhar, because of this his mind started to wonder out of reality. He started to go into a fantasy world where he could escape and become that driftwood in the currents of the rivers. By giving Fargher this hope the author was able to allow him to escape in only his mind. Showing that there was no reality for the execution to go undone. The author lead us into such a unbelievable r...

    Read More

  • Comparing Chickamauga And An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    A large portion of the text in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is just Peyton’s imagination, and the details are quite vivid. Obviously, the boy in “Chickamauga” uses his imagination freely, from his pretend sword to riding the wounded soldiers like horses. It seems that this is part of Bierce’s denouncement of romanticism. Peyton’s escape, daring and unbelievable, is only his imagination. It is as if Bierce is communicating that these types of things only happen in the imagination; in reality the man uneventfully hangs and dies. The point Bierce makes is that Romanticism is just an imaginative view of the world. He attempts to make it quite clear that the world is unfair, tragic, and cruel, something Bierce had experienced firsthand. The wording used in both stories paints very realistic and grotesque images, like when the jawless soldier is described; “from the upper teeth to the throat was a great red gap fringed with hanging shreds of flesh and splinters of bone.”(Bierce) This type of description goes along with Bierce’s attempt to show true, gruesome reality, and we see it again when the boy’s mother is seen with her skull agape. Bierce also describes more beautiful scenes in a similar manner, allowing the reader to imagine vivid and detailed images. Perhaps the most prominent example of his vivid description is when Peyton emerges from the water; “He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the

    Read More

  • Hallucinations In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    A man sprints through a dense forest, escaping an unknown terror pursuing him through the darkness from the treetops. As he keeps looking back, he cannot see what is chasing him, but he assumes it must be close behind him. Suddenly, his foot is snared by a protruding tree trunk and he lands face first on the tiled floor of his mental-care facility. His nurse helps him up and regrets mentioning to the man that she just recently adopted a child from Vietnam, which caused him to lash out. Obviously, the man suffered through a hallucination of his past in the Vietnam War, triggered through the nurse’s mere comment. He has done this and will continue to do this for years to come. This is because society forces the individual, through the aid of

    Read More

  • Perceptions in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Story of an Hour

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "The Story of an Hour," the authors use similar techniques to create different tones, which in turn illicit very distinct reactions from the reader. Both use a third person narrator with a limited omniscient point of view to tell of a brief, yet significant period of time. In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce uses this method to create an analytical tone to tell the story of Farquhar's experience just before death. In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin uses this method to create an involved, sympathetic tone to relay the story of Mrs. Mallard's experience just before death. These stories can be compared on the basis of their similar points of view and conclusions as well as their different tones.

    Read More

  • The Boarded Window Sparknotes

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the loneliness kick in he was starting to go crazy over it all. It also started the supernatural part of the story because he was one lonely man but when he saw the ghost of his wife he was scared. The story takes part in the 1830’s a few miles away from today Cincinnati Ohio. somewhere in the wild in the forest. The atmosphere of the story is depression from where his wife died. The depression was so bad he was building up so much stress that he was going crazy. There was also supernaturalism activity because he was thrown to the ground and he was getting hit by nothing at all. So i think it was his wife's spirit telling to get on with his life without her. The story is told by the narrator who never knew Murlock's wife but has heard about the story of her death from his grandfather. As the narrator retells the story he seems to believe the cabin where Murlock and his wife once lived is haunted. Murlock was trying to make it as a farmer until his wife died it took a toll on his life. It made him go in to mild depression. The man was only 50 but he looked like a 70 year old man because of his long and white hair. When he died of natural causes he was buried next to his wife and the cabin. Before he died he had enough stress to kill a man. Ambrose bierce was known for his satirical wit and sardonic view of human nature. Bitter Bierce was a nickname he got from the story The Devil's Dictionary a story that originally appeared as the name of The Cynic’s Word Book. This humorous and often unusually wise book is always worth a casual visit as he takes his turn handing out striking order about human nature and daily life. He brought us so go stories like four days in dixie, oil of dog, the damned thing and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. He was in the Mexican revolutionary war so he can get first hand experience on the conflicts. And out of nowhere he disappeared out of

    Read More

More about How Does Bierce Use Imagery In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Open Document