ipl-logo

Owl Creek Bridge Figurative Language

607 Words3 Pages

Many were unsupportive of war, especially the Civil War, and when it erupted writers attacked the ideology and logic of the violence. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, follows the imagination of a Confederate citizen who is executed for attempting to burn a bridge. The story captures his final thoughts and outlines his plan for escape, though it is never enacted. Bierce advises his readers to stay out of dangerous situations which do not affect their personal lives, in particular, events that only serve to boost their ego. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce uses figurative language to highlight his disapproval of military and war, meanwhile critiquing the main character’s decision to be involved with violence. …show more content…

Farquhar wanted to fight,“Who was at heart a soldier”(832). The whole story portrays the man as a fighter who can get out of sticky situations, though he has never gone through a day of military training. It was ironic he believed he could actually escape execution and proves how powerless he in saving himself. The story romanticizes abilities he wish he had. In the end his daydreams were not enough to save him, “His body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side” (840). This is the climax of where Bierce displays his beliefs of hatred towards war and fighting, since the “soldier-at-heart” is hung. He is not able to escape, like fairytales, because wars are real and people die, it is not a great adventure that people like to believe. Bierce resents war and hints to this undertone throughout An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, masking it with figurative language. Bierce subtly hints throughout the story about the folly of war and its destructions rather than its ability to solve disputes. Bierce believes that war is glorified by those who never fought, but it is truly deadly and destructive to the

Show More
Related

Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

312 Words | 2 Pages

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a story created by literary genius Ambrose Bierce and is set during Civil War times… The short story tells the narrative of Peyton Farquhar, a sympathizer of confederates who has been sentenced to his end by lynching from the Owl Creek Bridge…An occurrence at owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce shows why having an imagination is critical in making it through impossible times… An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a richly formulated observation on the flowing nature of time and need for imagination when a person going through tricky situation in his life… In the short story, the main character, Farquhar, generates his dream world out of desperation… Farquhar is on the verge of death, and imagining that escape

Read More

Comparing Chickamauga And The War Prayer

72 Words | 1 Pages

Bierce’s “Chickamauga”, Howell’s “Editha,” and Twain’s “The War Prayer” all offer strong attacks against the sentiment that war is glorious and holy. Each of the stories takes place during one of the American Wars. All of the short stories show how society at the time viewed war, also the true horrors of the war through realism. Each story uses a different techniques to prove that war isn’t holy or glorious at all.

Read More

Juxtaposition In Chickamauga

394 Words | 2 Pages

The image that the reader creates to imagine the conditions of the men with “hanging...flesh...” give perspective to someone who may have never been exposed to the sights seen in war. Bierce accomplishes his purpose in showing how the images seen and recognized in civilian life show a far more glamorous portrayal of war compared to the reality that is vastly different from what is commonly known about war. The juxtaposition of ideas show how certain groups of people perceive war based on their experiences. Bierce’s use of juxtaposition throughout the story shows the development of two ideas of war, and how the two ideas grow to be different in many

Read More

Fallen Angels By Walter Dean Myers: Character Analysis

374 Words | 2 Pages

Perry for example was already uncertain of his future and his knee injury already had him on edge. towards the end of the book after burning the corpses of his past comrades he lost all faith, and innocence. So the theme of the book is that war is devastating to person both mentally and

Read More

My Brother Sam Is Dead Character Analysis

691 Words | 3 Pages

Man’s Worst Angel War is one of the most violent and primitive things ever done by man. In “My Brother Sam is Dead” by Collier and Collier, war is the focus point in the novel. The main characters consist of: Sam, Tim, and Mr.Meeker. Mr. Meeker is Sam and Tim’s father, and has certain views on politics that Sam doesn’t agree with, while Tim is unsure. Tim is torn between the gruesome realities of war and the fantasy of glory Sam is in love with.

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

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

Examples Of Irony In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

218 Words | 1 Pages

The best comparison of both short stories is their ironic elements. Peyton, seconds from death, stretches the last couple of seconds of life into a long-lasting dream. He imagines himself escaping; now he must travel through the forest to his home and wife, at the moment of embracing his neck breaks and he dies. Another example of irony in the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was when the Union solider disguised himself as a Confederate soldier to convince Peyton to burn down the Owl Creek Bridge. He assembled the charade to compel Peyton in giving up his life.

Read More

Figurative Language In Yarrott Benz's The Bone Bridge

1047 Words | 5 Pages

While I was waiting for the writing series event to begin, and for the author to speak, I realized I had never attended such an event as this before. As an adamant lover of writing, and reading, I have never heard an author read his or her own work aloud in person. I have seen videos online of the such, but I never witnessed it in person. I had enjoyed the experience of hearing the author Yarrott Benz share something so important to him and something which he worked hard on. I have never heard an author talk about his process or the difficulties of writing his or work either.

Read More

The Masque Of The Red Death Literary Analysis

1117 Words | 5 Pages

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.”

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 War

190 Words | 1 Pages

The harsh and brutal side of the military and war is clear through Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. From the detailed descriptions of the soldiers’ procedures to the shocking twist shows us the heartlessness that war (in this case the Civil War) can hold. In the exposition of this story, the sentinels are described as being in a “support” position, “a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body” (21). This not only sets the scene for the reader, but it shows us the respect with which the soldiers seem to be treating Farquhar’s hanging. However, Bierce then calls death a “dignitary,” who is treated with “formal manifestations of respect” (22).

Read More

Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing

425 Words | 2 Pages

Farquhar’s merely escapes being shot by the soldiers and vividly describes his surroundings. Ambrose depicts what Farquhar visualizes when “He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf--saw the very insects upon them” (Bierce ). One knows that he is a good distance from the trees since he is in the river and looking at the forest. This concludes that he is not living in reality at that moment due to the impossibility of being able to see the leaves and insects in such detail from far away. Hence, he will most likely still be hanged since nothing he is experiencing is real.

Read More

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Literary Analysis

971 Words | 4 Pages

The story begins with Confederate farmer, Peyton Farquhar, staring down into the water, noose around his neck, surrounded by soldiers who are responsible for his unfortunate demise. In the moments leading up to his hanging, his reality and perception of time become distorted and, "A sound which he could neither ignore nor

Read More

More about Owl Creek Bridge Figurative Language

Related Topics

Open Document