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Analysis Of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

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"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce, first published in 1890. It is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a Confederate soldier, Peyton Farquhar, who is about to be hanged by Union soldiers for attempting to sabotage a railroad bridge. In this analysis essay, I will explore the major themes of the story and the ways in which they are developed. One of the most important themes of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is the concept of time. Throughout the story, time is shown to be subjective and malleable, as the narrative shifts between Farquhar's perception of time and objective reality. The story begins with Farquhar's thoughts racing as he awaits his execution, and then abruptly shifts to a flashback of his life before the war. As Farquhar is about to be hanged, time seems to slow down and become distorted, creating a dream-like atmosphere. This theme of the fluidity of time adds to the surreal and suspenseful nature of the story. …show more content…

Farquhar's impending death is the driving force of the narrative, and Bierce explores the psychological impact of facing one's own mortality. Farquhar's thoughts turn to his family and his regrets in life, showing how imminent death can cause one to reflect on the past. In addition, the story plays with the idea of a "near-death experience," as Farquhar's escape and subsequent journey home is revealed to be a hallucination occurring in the moments before his

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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was a story written by Ambrose Bierce. He wrote it to be a suspenseful and confusing short story. The suspense brought on by Bierce employed to clench one's attention throughout this short story by using numerous literary techniques. With his use of imagery Bierce displayed that, in his mind, Farquhar, while being hanged, still had all of his thoughts and he believed that he was escaping the army, bringing suspense to the story. Farquhar thought that the rope had snapped and that he had fallen into the water, he imagined himself escaping the military by swimming away.

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“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Plot- Peyton Farquhar is a plantation owner from Northern Alabama who is being hanged to death for aiding the Confederate cause during the Civil War. He is standing on a plank of the bridge with his hands bound and a noose around his neck. He thinks of his family and home during his final seconds.

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Time is the motif of the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce. Peyton Farquhar tried to set an important bridge on fire to help the confederalist but was captured by the federalist during the American Civil war. For this he is to be hanged until dead but manages to free himself. Thanks to his use of imagery, symbolism, and plot structure Bierce created a story where time is fluid and not rigid. Bierce’s use of imagery is a prominent point in the story as in any story.

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Farquhar gets captured by the Union troops and he realizes that he’s going to die from getting hanged. Meanwhile, the noose is around Farquhar neck and he starts to daydream about the possibility of noose breaking and falling into the creek. He then escapes the Union troops, and finds himself back home where his wife awaits him. As soon as he tries to embrace his wife he is forced back into reality by being hanged.

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In the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, written by Ambrose Bierce, he tells the story of white southerner during the American Civil War who has committed a crime against the Union and is punished to death by hanging. Throughout the short story Bierce takes us the readers on a journey through northern Alabama filled with suspense and foreshadowing. Through the entire short story Bierce uses many different types of foreshadowing to anticipate the fate of the main character. Bierce foreshadows the ending of the story in three ways, 1.) Peyton Farquhar’s heightened senses, 2.)

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Rogelio Ochoa Freed Period 2 Feb 8, 2023 Perception of Owl Creek Bridge One may see something as they want it to be instead of how it really is. The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce takes place in Alabama. Peyton Farquhar the protagonist of Beirce’s story is a man who is to be hanged and takes place on Owl Creek Bridge. Farquhar was told that anyone who tried interfering with the railroad construction that was happening on the bridge would be hanged.

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Literary analysis of “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” Ambrose Bierce, the Author of “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” about a man who was being hanged, throughout the story Peyton hallucinates and thinks that he has escaped the hanging but in reality he’s dying. Bierce uses symbolism in “ An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to foreshadow that Peyton is going to die. There are multiple allusions throughout the story that Bierce used to convey the death of Peyton. Imagery is used throughout the entire story to show that Peyton is hallucinating. Throughout the entire story Bierce uses multiple literary techniques to foreshadow Peyton’s death.

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In the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce, the author tells the story of a man named Peyton Farquhar who was hanged for his crimes and being a Confederate saboteur. Within seconds of being hung, Farquhar imagines himself surviving being hung and escaping to his family. Ultimately, he actually dies since it was only a manipulation of reality. Besides the fact of his death, Time is an idea that it clearly present in the story and demonstrates an important role. Time plays an important role in the story by displaying how extraordinary the mind can do in a short period of time, that 8 manipulation of time does not remove one from reality and Farquhar’s lack of control of events.

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He provides hints throughout the story that lead readers to think these events aren’t possible. Section III is where the majority of these hints are given. Words like “seemed” and “thought” are found throughout section III. These words give the reader no reassurance of what Farquhar is actually aware of. If he is just “thinking” something is happening, why would you think it’s real?

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Then Farquhar asked the following question: “Suppose a man—a civilian and student of hanging—should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel. What could he accomplish?” This is a direct foreshadow to the criminal act Farquhar plained to accomplish. Right here is proof of his not so subtle questioning so he can see exactly what would happen and could be accomplished if he went up to Owl Creek Bridge to destroy government property out of pure loyalty and dedication to the South. Right here, is where we see his true manifest intentions and see behind his not-so-friendly disguise.

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Bierce uses foreshadowing to create a certain approach in the story, “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” In this story, we learn that a man is getting hung when all of a sudden he has an imagination of escaping and going home, as he awakens from his imagination and gets hung; leaving the readers in awe. The techniques that Bierce uses to create this action is Imagery, Allusion, and Symbolism. These techniques compute to foreshadowing.

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Farquhar was able to deviate away from the reality of his death through his vivid imagination. He escaped all the pain that he otherwise would have felt. Upon falling down the bridge, his defense mechanism kicked in and led him to imagine an escape he desired. He didn’t feel any pain for he quickly “lost consciousness and was as one already dead.” He was not in fear during his last moments because he believed that “despite his suffering … he now (stood) at the gate of his own home.”

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As you can tell from the title, something big happened at the Owl Creek Bridge, but you have to wait until the end of the story to find out the truth, or else you could be lost in someone’s daydream. The story had me intrigued by the different directions it could take you, but it all made sense in the end, and I discovered you sometimes have to dig a little deeper to find the whole truth about someone. Peyton Farquhar, a plantation owner in his mid-thirties, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Farquhar, a supporter of the Confederacy, learns from a soldier that Union troops have seized the Owl Creek railroad bridge and repaired it. The soldier suggests that Farquhar might be able to burn the bridge down if he can slip past its guards.

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In conclusion, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” demonstrates several foreshadowing techniques to predict Farquhar’s fate, such as imagery and preternatural plot elements. The preternatural ability to hear a watch ticking at a vociferous volume reveals that Farquhar was simply imagining that his time is ticking away. Also, the use of imagery when he is unnaturally describing the distant trees in great detail shows that he is dreaming about that as well and not living in reality, so he has not escaped the fact that he will die in real

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The short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce effectively demonstrates the harsh realities of war through its depiction of the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar. As Farquhar is about to be hanged for his involvement in the Confederate army, he experiences a vivid daydream of his escape from the bridge. This moment of hope is quickly crushed when the reader is reminded of the harsh truth of war: Farquhar is hanged and killed as the story ends. Bierce's use of this dream sequence serves to emphasize the harsh realities of war, as Farquhar's dream of escape is ultimately revealed to be a false hope. As Bierce states, "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of

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