In Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

In telling a story, there are many tools which can be used in order to create a story that can affect the reader in certain ways. These tools are called stylistic devices, which are divided into literary elements and literary techniques. If used effectively, these devices can help in creating a compelling story. Such is the case with Ambrose Bierce and his short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The story, which tells of an execution of a man named Peyton Fahquhar, is told using many stylistic devices. Among those, the ones that are worth mentioning and can be said as the ones most responsible in making this short story such a compelling one are the types of narrative voice and the narrative methods which were used. In narrating this

“He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter,” (Bierce, 1890: 1). This is one of the lines in the first part that can be used as evidence that its narration, indeed, uses an objective point of view. From that one line, it is apparent that the narrator is only telling what they can see. However, on paragraphs five and six of the first part, the narrative voice changed. Instead of an objective point of view, it changed to that of a limited omniscient point of view. While both of these styles of narrating are done through third person by a covert narrator―that is, the narrator is telling someone else’s story and it is not made obvious who the narrator is―there is a significant difference between these two; through a limited omniscient point of view, the narrator knows what the character is thinking and feeling and thus can give the reader information about these things. “They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek,” (p. 2). This line shows the difference in the previous narrative voice; the narrator now have access to what the character―Peyton Fahrquhar―is feeling. However, this merely shows that the narration is done through an omniscient point of view, while the “limited”

For instance, if the narration is only told using an objective point of view, then the reader will most likely focus on the details in the story, which leads to them seeing the story as merely an interesting occurrence that sparks their curiosity without being able to sympathize with the character. On the other hand, if the story is told only using the limited omniscient point of view, the reader might be able to sympathize with Fahquhar’s character more, with the downside that the other aspects of the story―such as the time and place in which the story takes place―and their significance might be neglected, that is, readers will not pay much attention to them. In short, using the first style of narration will make the happenings in the story the focus, while the second will make the character in the story the focus. By using both of these narrations instead of just one, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” can achieve both of the aforementioned impacts instead of just one of them, making both the happenings and Fahrquhar’s character the focus. As a result, the reader can imagine the scenes in which the events take place vividly and the events itself, as well as sympathizing with the