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

Ambrose Bierce is the author of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” he wrote this short story to inform his readers on how terrible war is but to also put them in Fahrquhar mind. Peyton Fahrquhar was caught tampering with a bridge and was sent to be hanged. Bierce has used imagery to help the readers imagine what fahrquhar is really experiencing. The author applied imagery in many ways but some more than other he said he was standing on the bridge looking down and a pieced of drift wood floats by he had said before the current of the water was moving fast but the way he explained the wood it was floating slow this could resemble time slowing down for him.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Bierce, is the story of the hanging of a Civil War era Southern gentleman by the name of Peyton Farquhar. The story begins with an unidentified man being prepared to be hanged by a company of Union soldiers on a railroad bridge that runs over a river. He is then identified as Peyton Farquhar, a man who attempted to destroy the very bridge they are standing on based on information he was given by a Federal scout posing as a Confederate soldier. As he is dropped from the bridge to hang, the rope snaps and he falls into the river. After freeing himself and returning to the surface of the river, he realizes that his senses are all much

Ambrose Bierce's’ view on the military is much similar than the view of some of ours and he expresses his view throughout “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Bierce looks at the military, or even war, with an opinion of pure violence. Bierce describes the war as violent and full of suffrage. Never once does Bierce describe war as a pleasing idea.

In the story “Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play “The Star – Spangled Banner” At Woodstock”. by Sherman Alexie the author uses situational irony to make this story more interesting. “A fellow demonstrator holds a sign that is just barely visible over my father’s left shoulder. It reads MAKE LOVE NOT WAR.” (Alexie 25) This is ironic because they are being forced to go into war and fight

effectively uses literary elements to allow the reader to look through the keyhole of the

Ambrose Bierce wrote his short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” centuries after the Civil War ended. This short story is Historical Fiction with the historical background of The Civil War and also the characters, Bierce uses in this story.

Ambrose Bierce writes his story in three parts, each part describing a different event that is taking place, creating the intricate plot of the story. The first part, the introduction, places the reader in a thrilling and shocking scene, the death and possible murder of a man. The second part does not continue the story and instead is a character’s introduction and a flashback to when the man was told of a crime he later decided to commit. When the scout said “the commandant officer has issued an order, which is posted everywhere, declaring that any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels or trains will be summarily hanged” (484), he warned Farquhar of his possible death before committing the crime, but still Farquhar decided to risk his life for his side in a war thus bringing to life the story we know. Finally, the third part--the longest--describes the events that should have taken place directly after the closure of part one. Farquhar is hanged and dreams of his escape in the few seconds he has before being snapped back into reality and to his death. By structuring the story in this sequence the author forces the reader to wait and continue reading to know whether Farquhar lives or dies, thus dragging on the already excruciating

An Occurrence at owl creek bridge, Peyton Farquhar tries to impress someone in uniform. “ The Yanks are repairing the railroads,” said the man,” and are getting ready for another advance. They have reached the owl creek bridge, put it in order and built a stockade on the north bank.” (Bierce, Ambrose “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” online litterature,

Wars do not accept anyone and everyone. There is a certain requirement for all who want to enlist. Peyton Farquhar in the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, was a farmer who was rejected from enlisting in the army. The story takes place during the Civil War in the South. Peyton came from a highly-respected family in the southern state Alabama. He was devoted to the southern customs. Peyton unfortunately was unable to enter the war due to certain Circumstances. One day a soldier comes to Peyton’s home. His wife and he help the solider learning about Owl Creek Bridge. Pretty much the solider from the Northern gave him all the details. Peyton was plotting something in the back of his mind as he was

In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Bierce shows the reader what the fear of death can do to a man’s psyche while allowing the reader to decide if what the protagonist has done is justified or not. Bierce does this through the narrator’s point of view, Bierce’s writing style, and the narrator’s tone. The narrator, being third person limited, knows what Peyton Farquhar thinks and how he feels; and therefore, is able to go into great detail about Farquhar's hanging. Which causes the reader to wonder why the narrator went through the trouble of going into so much detail about the imagined escape?

Farquhar, a slave owner devoted to the Southern cause, has a “romantic and idealized view of war” (“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” 163). Farquhar feels that “no service was too humble for him to perform in the aid of the south, no adventure to perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier” (Bierce 339). He is obsessed with the opportunity for distinction and honorable service, believing he is meant to be a soldier. However, Farquhar is unable to achieve his service due to “circumstances of an imperious nature” that had “prevented him from taking service with the gallant army that had fought the disastrous campaigns” (Bierce 339). Farquhar deceives himself into believing that it is possible to be the hero he has always fantasized. Although he firmly believes that he has the heart of a soldier, he does not have the instincts of a soldier. He is so consumed with achieving the glory he so wants to attain that he ignores clues that may have saved his life. The narrative later explains that later that evening the soldier “repassed the plantation, going northward in the direction from which he had come. He was a Federal Scout” (Bierce 340). Farquhar, having no experience with military tactics, allows “himself to be tricked by a federal spy into burning the railroad bridge” (Korb

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a brilliant story written about a man facing execution in Northern Alabama during the civil war; by Ambrose Bierce. Although some critics may say it is a story of mere psychology without a fictional meaning; I feel that the story stays true to its fictional setting and uses psychology as it’s guiding force to express the character and human nature in general.

Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” and the film version directed by Robert Enrico share some similarities but mostly the differences between the two works. Both the short story and film can be compared and contrasted in relation to the emotion, detail and perspective. One is at an advantage, reading the short story before seeing the film because the story gives a better idea of what is happening and who the protagonist really is. In other words, the short story helps in providing the reader with key details that are not mentioned in the film.

Reading and understanding literature is not as easy as it sounds. Being able to dissect each piece of information and connect it to the overall theme of the story takes lots of rereading and critical thinking. Reading the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” takes lots of critical thinking and understanding the literature in a different point of view than the average reader would. The theme of this particular story quickly came to mind after initially concluding the reading, the author is trying to convey that nobody can escape death and how thoughts in the mind are so substantial in the consciousness that it can take over the reality. The author comes to this theme by incorporating specific literary elements such a symbol, irony,

The moments leading up to his hanging, Peyton's reality begins to become distorted. "He became conscious of a new disturbance." (Bierce p 74) "A sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil." (Bierce p 75). What should be an irrelevant background noise suddenly becomes extremely significant and loud. Ambrose Bierce clearly expresses just how significant the few moments before death become. "More significantly for Bierce's purposes, though, is that "time" itself, when employed to calibrate human experience, seems to become indeterminate at points of maximum emotional disturbance." (Stoicheff) Peyton Farquhar only hears "the ticking of his watch." (Bierce p 75) This distinct reference to time gives a moment to ponder just how many ticks of Peyton's watch actually occur during the upcoming sequence. As "the noose tightens around his neck, and he is "as one already dead" (Bierce p 75) "from this state he [is] awakened - ages later." (Bierce p