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An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Essay

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Christopher Wilson Professor Gilchrist Engl 1102 24 March 2024 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’s reality vs dream To many, life can feel as if it is an ongoing dream until the end. That dream can feel real to a certain extent, but it is not tangible, just like in this story. This false reality is found in short stories such as: “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” This work was written and published in 1890 by the author, Ambrose Bierce, and is thought to be “the greatest American short story.” In the story, what is happening compared to what may be happening is very difficult to point out from one another. The story’s reality is simple to distinguish, the reality ceases to exist and is not real after it states that Farquhar, the main character, …show more content…

In this evidence, it is scientifically proven that most people give this answer when asked what happens in the story. When the story is inquired into, the events that happen are seen as distortions. According to the text, “Details of Farquhar's death by hanging persistently intersect with much of the description of his apparent journey, a journey that is actually a distortion of the sensation of hanging and not merely a disengaged reverie of his escape from it” (Stoicheff). The text explains that the journey that Farquhar is having is not real, but it is his death right after he is hanged and never escapes. As a result, the events within the text after his hanging appear to be false and are just his brain’s last output and use before his death. Secondly, Farquhar’s random and illogical experiences play a key role in differentiating his reality and dream-like state. In the story, there are many instances where Farquhar should die, or illogical events that are not pointed out happen. In his dream-like state, certain actions that can not actually happen in the real world occur such as, bullets stopping the moment they hit the water and other …show more content…

A. “Meaning and Effect in Fiction: An Evolutionary Model of Interpretation Illustrated with a Reading of ‘Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’: A Usable Model of Human Nature.” Style, vol. 46, no. 4 -. 3–4, Sept. 2012, p. 297. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=3ace6eb9-4b18-3d7e-8ebd-4e3a5ff162a6. Jennifer, Bouchard, and Ambros Bierce. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Introduction to Literary Context: American Short Fiction, Nov. 2014, pp. 7–10. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=2a578d8d-a24c-386e-aa31-785634118f42. Sasaki, Toru. “Back to Owl Creek Bridge.” Style, vol. 49, No. 4 -. 2, June 2015, pp. 113-114. 181–95. The. EBSCOhost,

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