ipl-logo

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

1421 Words6 Pages

Often regarded as one of the more significant short stories in American literature, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce takes place during the Civil War and is about a secessionist young southerner named Peyton Farquhar. Farquhar is a prideful and fallible young man who desires to help the Confederacy, but for some undisclosed reason is not able to serve. He attempts to blow up a bridge controlled by Union soldiers, and is subsequently hanged. Ambrose Bierce designed this short story to keep the reader’s attention throughout, going into the mind of Farquhar, and he holds their attention through use of vivid imagery, realism, narrative structure, and foreshadowing. Throughout the story, Bierce uses foreshadowing to indicate …show more content…

When he first opens his eyes, he “saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible (Bierce)!” This also foreshadows death by describing a distant, fading light. On his …show more content…

One of the major reasons this story is considered a work of realism is its eloquent and abundant attention to detail. Specifically, in Part I, the author describes the exact layout of the bridge, the soldiers, the setup, and the hanging in in-depth and meticulous detail. This use of realism is made evident in the opening of the story: “Some loose boards laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners--two private soldiers of the federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff (Bierce).” Not only does this scrupulous detail reveal the realistic nature of the story, it also intensifies the plot for the reader. These details reveal that the story is taking place during the Civil War, but also help to distinguish the types of people they are in the story. Farquhar, for instance, is revealed to be a slave-owning secessionist plantation owner. Another aspect of realism used in this story is the fact that the middle class man is made out to be a sort of hero. Throughout the story, Farquhar is portrayed as a simple southerner through his thoughts and language. He does what any patriotic southerner would feel they should do, and attempts to burn down Owl Creek Bridge, an action that would cost him dearly later on. After

Show More
Related

Peyton Farquhar's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

545 Words | 3 Pages

He goes out of his way to perform services to support the Confederate cause. One day, a gray-clad soldier appears at his house and tells Farquhar that Union soldiers in the area have been repairing the railroads, including the one over Owl Creek Bridge. Interested, Farquhar asks if it is possible to sabotage the bridge, to which the soldier replies that he could burn it down. When the soldier leaves, it is revealed that he is a Union scout who has lured Farquhar into a trap, as anyone caught interfering with the railroads would face

Read More

Owl Creek Bridge Research Paper

287 Words | 2 Pages

Today June 19th 1865, the events at Owl Creek Bridge are proof that the North is unwilling to take separation as an answer. A man named Peyton Farquhar shot at the Northern soldiers. This man from the South somehow knew about our Union encampment. “He fired on our soldiers,”said an unnamed army Captian. “We caught him near our encampment at Owl Creek Bridge,”he said.

Read More

The Rocking Horse Winner And An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

1001 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

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

463 Words | 2 Pages

Because of the damage and tarnish he had done to the bridge this would be Farquhar’s fate. Bierce tells the story in an almost confusing way, by using both back flashes and foreshadowing. In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce he uses many different literary techniques to amplify the suspense of the text. Symbolism is shown many times in Bierce’s writing. He shows the water as freedom, from death and punishment.

Read More

Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing

1452 Words | 6 Pages

Farquhar stands on the bridge, hands tied and able to see all that's around him. He stands over the river thinking of his family and the possibility of escaping. He begins to fall into the river and tries to make his way home escaping death. He finally arrives home with

Read More

Owl Creek Bridge Symbolism

473 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More

How Does Bierce Use Literary Devices In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Individualism

638 Words | 3 Pages

Brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. War tends to change family life and past relationships for the worst, especially the Civil War, where it started a new precedent for war. Ambrose Bierce, author of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, served in the confederate army during the Civil war, but was eventually discharged due to him suffering a severe head wound. Though, during his time in war, Bierce was able to experience the truth behind it, and on what the government tries to hide from the public. He took this experience and he started to write and was able to sabotage the idea of war in his passages.

Read More

Fahrquhar In John Steinbeck's All Quiet On The Western Front

83 Words | 1 Pages

Before we reach the climax, the author gives the reader real news that leads up to it. Fahrquhar wasn’t allowed to be in the army, and he believed, “no service was too humble for him to perform in aid of the South.” The soldier tells Fahrquhar that the driftwood was too “dry and would burn like tinder...”. He was told “any civilian caught interfering..will be...hanged.” The reader assumes that Fahrquhar will try and attempt to burn the bridge in help of the

Read More

Literary Analysis Of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

688 Words | 3 Pages

Literary Analysis: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, written in 1890, is a story about the lengths one will go to escape death, and the vanity of man. Part one of this three part story begins with a gentleman who let himself be tricked by “soldiers of the Federal Army”. He is awaiting his execution for plotting against the Union and attempting to set the bridge on fire. He thinks about his wife and children, all while standing on the edge of a plank on the Owl Creek Bridge, with his hands bound and a noose wrapped firmly around his neck. He dreams up an elaborate escape plan, one that he knows is not only impossible but bound to fail.

Read More

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing Analysis

813 Words | 4 Pages

In literary terms foreshadowing is a method by which the author uses specific verbiage in a story to tell, or foreshadow, what is going to happen. The reader may feel as if they know what is going to happen before they read it, they could feel like a clairvoyant or that they are having a déjà vu experience. Ambrose Bierce’s story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” has instances of foreshadowing that allude to the death of Peyton Farquhar before the story reaches the climactic point of telling of his fate. The first instance of foreshadowing is when Peyton Farquhar thinks that he can escape the hangman’s noose and swim home.

Read More

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Essay

948 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing

425 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Essay

1414 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More

Death In Meursault's The Stranger

1232 Words | 5 Pages

Another way is how he sees life, shown in how he focuses on physical things in life such as touch over emotions. Because death is meaningless, he sees life in a certain regard, in the sense that he focuses less on an emotional standpoint and more on a physical one. The last way

Read More

Death Comes For Everyman Analysis

1514 Words | 7 Pages

Everyman Shamyra Thompson ENGL 102-B27 Liberty University Everyman Thesis: In the morality play “Death Comes for Everyman”, the author shares his comprehension of death and how death’s treatment is a symbolic message that comes from God. The idea of the play is that God sends his message through Death which humans can’t avoid from happening when the time approaches. Everyman, the character in the play tries to reason with Death to get more time, however Death refuses Everyman’s offers of riches for Death because he has no use for material possessions. I.

Read More

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

Related Topics

Open Document