Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Does time stop or slow down during death? In the short story by Ambrose Bierce “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The author extensively uses foreshadowing during the short story that manipulates the reader to lead towards the factors of symbolism, irony, setting, and viewpoint. They’re numerous viewpoints from the readers perspective of, symbolism, and irony that, indicate the timeline of Peyton Farquhar tragic death. Ambrose Bierce uses the time to manipulate the reader from understanding the plot, making it impossible to forecast most of the short story.

I chose this source from the National Archives due to its relevance to the era in which “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, by Ambrose Bierce was written. This document stresses the life of Confederate citizens in relation to contact with Federal soldiers. It includes information about citizens loyal to the Confederate flag spying, violating military orders, citizens moving through military installations, citizens not surrendering to the Union, and citizens committing sabotage to Federal arms. Citizens also provided business firms and services to assist the Confederate war effort, even after being seized by Federal arms. Civilian businesses even northward provided Confederate espionage, deceit, and the hiding of Confederate guerilla forces.

Ambrose Bierce’s short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a story about a man’s final moments on earth before he is hanged and how he got there. There is a struggle within the character Farquhar of who he is and who he thinks he is. This causes different views throughout the story between reality and a fantasized reality. This plays a big role in the story because in part three of the story he thinks he is far superior and had outwitted his captures and escaped without a scratch after the rope broke and fell into the water. In reality he had been hanged and his body was swaying back and forth. This story had more meaning then just the top layer of being just about a guy who is being hanged. The meaning of this story is how fluid time moves, by this I mean how time seems to flow like a river it can move fast to slow and even seem to stand still. It has a secondary meaning of how we can fantasize another reality that can cause troubles for us. By this I mean you can envision your self into another world when you are still in the actual world, this can cause you to get yourself into a lot of trouble.

Throughout the passage “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, the author, Ambrose Bierce, makes it evident that he believes that war is an unnatural and unnecessary aspect of human life. Through the use of several literary tactics, the author creates a message that supports his viewpoint. By writing a story regarding the death of a civilian, Bierce is able to elaborate on his belief that even the civilians are unintentionally harmed by the recklessness of war.

Bierce does not shift voices again until the last paragraph of the story; meanwhile he weaves the "fairy tale" through Farquhar's thoughts. We get caught up in all the drama of Peyton's "escape" that we don't tend to notice the aphorisms that have been worked into the text. There are many clever references to light, to cold and darkness, heightened sensitivity; various elements that suggest an after death experience and the quite natural sensations of a body dangling by a broken neck. In general, the situation is rather unrealistic; it is rather dream-like. We as the reader do not recognize these neat aphorisms or that the story is only fantasy, until we read the last paragraph. The blind is then drawn from our eyes, as Bierce shifts voices once more and change back to third person, to reality. We are shocked and left with a sense of bewilderment as the last sentence is revealed: "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of Owl Creek

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, directed by Robert Enrico, depicts an occurrence in the mind of Peyton Farquhar. He is a civilian who tampers with the Union’s railroad system and is going to be hanged, and all he can think about is escaping and getting home to his wife. Unfortunately, death is a reality and no one can escape it.

Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” illustrates a theme of illusion versus reality distorted by the human mind. In the story, a man named Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged on a railroad bridge towards the end of the American Civil War. Farquhar, a Confederate citizen eager to help the Confederate States of America’s cause, ventures out towards Owl Creek Bridge at the advice of a Union scout in disguise. Unbeknownst to Farquhar, Union troops captured the bridge and surrounding territory, and upon capturing Farquhar, elect to hang him on charges of being a Confederate spy and sympathizer. As he is being hanged, however, Farquhar is able to escape his fate by falling into the river below. He manages to return back to his home, only to find out the entire experience of escape was an illusion created by his own imagination. The story concludes with the revelation that he actually died on the railroad bridge. Farquhar’s mind was able to create a whole new reality for himself. This reality was vivid, and it seems real to the reader until the very end of the story. The hallucination also spanned hours, yet in reality time passed for only a few seconds. Ambrose Bierce’s story demonstrates the impeccable powers of the human mind and its ability to distort time and reality for itself.

To understand what happens at the point of death is impossible unless to be experienced. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is set during the civil war during a northern advancement of the south. It opens at end of Peyton Farquhar’s life just before he will be hung for intruding on Union soldiers bridge of burn it. The story introduces the stages of death as a person would go through them.

Through a shifting point of view, the narrator leaves the reader pondering whether Farquhar will be able to escape. The narrator of the short story knows everything about Farquhar:

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce has the audience feeling multiple emotions such as shocked and on the edge of their seat from start to finish. Peyton Farquhar is a plantation owner is his mid-thirties. Farquhar was up for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge the Civil War because a Federal scout betrayed him. Bierce could mislead the readers thinking that Peyton Farquhar, was escaping from being hung when in fact it was just is imagination. Bierce engages a great use of characterization in how he describes the characters throughout the story and timing details, to have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats and having a twist that no one was expecting.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, written by Ambrose Bierce is known as one of the most famous American literature stories of all time. Ambrose Bierce was one of the best writers to ever exist and freely shared his greatness, which is visibly seen throughout his short story. In the story, author Ambrose Bierce portrays a man from the south named Peyton Farquhar, who is prepared to face execution by being hanged on a railroad bridge in Alabama. Based on the imagery, irony, and characters developed in Bierce’s most famous short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, every reader incorporates the power to signify the energy Peyton Farquhar releases and his mindset as he faces death.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce has the audience feeling multiple emotions such as shocked and on the edge of their sit from start to finish. Peyton Farquhar is a plantation owner is his mid-thirties. Farquhar was up for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge the Civil War because a Federal scout betrayed him. Bierce could mislead the readers thinking that Peyton Farquhar, was escaping from being hung when in fact it was just is imagination. Bierce engages a great use of characterization in how he describes the characters throughout the story and timing details to have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats and having a twist that no one was expecting.

The success of Bierce’s shocking ending in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” relies on the believability of the world he creates at the start of the tale. He carefully lays out all of the facts. The story prepares us to the shocking end through three ways which are contained in the three distinct sections of the tale; a factual opening scene, a flashback to give some basic history, and a fast-paced ending. The story begins with clear, easy, declarative sentences of a man standing upon a railroad bridge, staring down into the fast waters 24 feet below. The man’s wrists are bound with a cord behind his back and his neck is circled by a loosely tied rope that is attached to a timber just above his head. As the story continues it becomes clear that this man is about to be killed by army (Bierce, pg 26). The arrangements for the execution are explained in scientific detail. The physical setting and movements of the Union army are provided with such still precision that the prospect comes to life evidently and intensely.

Peyton Farquhar dies. Although the story vividly pictures him escaping his fate, the last line of the tale describes him hanging under the bridge with a broken neck. One might suffer from temporary shock after reading, but Ambrose Bierce, the author of “An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge”, slides foreshadowing into his work in order to hint the audience of the conclusion. Bierce uses imagery, plot elements, and his character’s thoughts to let readers have a guess at Peyton Farquhar’s final fate.

Ambrose bierce, used the word "occurence" of the short story "An occurence of owl creek bridge". Ambrose used the word "occerence", because there was an event that had happened at owl creek bridge. It was when this cilvian, Payton did something wrong. So the army decided to hang him on the bridge. Thing did not go as planned. the roped broke that was holding payton and he plunged into the water.