Free Essays on An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

along with the hyphen present a clear and discrete image. They describe the beginning of a dream, where everything seems out of place at first, but become very real and clear to the dreamer. Often times in a dream, a person believes themselves to be able to achieve a task they wouldn’t be able to do in their everyday life. â€Å"What splendid effort!-what magnificent, what superhuman strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! Bravo!† (1482) Peyton is now under water after falling from the bridge, and struggling to get the ropes off his wrist. He sud... Free Essays on An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Free Essays on An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge The story, â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† by Ambrose Bierce, a man by the name of Peyton Farquhar is hanged for opposing the Northern troops. The story is broken into three chapters or sub-stories. The first chapter sets up the scene of the hanging and its location. The second brings to light Peyton’s personal life and his character. The third and final chapter tells of his escape from the soldiers, which is actually a dream sequence. Bierce gives minute and delicate clues to let the reader understand Peyton is actually dreaming and not escaping. The very first lines of chapter three give numerous clues as to what has actually happen to Peyton. â€Å"As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead. From this state he was awakened-ages later, it seemed to him-by the pain of the sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation.† (1481) Bierce basically uses the first line to explain that Peyton was now dead, and the reader would believe it. He then purposely throws in a twist with the second line, saying Peyton was now awakened and feeling the pain of the rope suffocating him. From a reader’s perspective, Peyton is actually alive, fighting for his life, but there are two keys words that Bierce uses to hint to the reader that this is actually a dream, â€Å"ages later.† These two words along with the hyphen present a clear and discrete image. They describe the beginning of a dream, where everything seems out of place at first, but become very real and clear to the dreamer. Often times in a dream, a person believes themselves to be able to achieve a task they wouldn’t be able to do in their everyday life. â€Å"What splendid effort!-what magnificent, what superhuman strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! Bravo!† (1482) Peyton is now under water after falling from the bridge, and struggling to get the ropes off his wrist. He sud... Free Essays on An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge†, Ambrose Bierce tells not only of humanity’s will to survive, but also of the willingness to become greater than, and more powerful than that which is natural. The story is about the hanging of a civilian, Peyton Farquhar, because of his attempt to help the Confederate forces. Before Farquhar was hanged, however, his mind takes him through a heroic escape. Bierce does an excellent job of describing the escape in a dream-like fashion. He shows the mind’s ability to escape reality, and to escape the inevitable. The first sighting of Farquhar’s supernatural capabilities came after he closed his eyes to think about his family. ''A short distinct, metabolic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; They hurt his ears like the thrust of a knife†¦ What he heard was the ticking of his watch.'" (Bierce 571). The mind will enhance the senses before death. It will allow aspects of nature to be highlighted and to appear most significant. As in this case, Farquhar was able to hear a pocket watch tick in his pocket. The sound, he thought, was extremely bothersome and was almost overbearing. Like anyone would do, Farquhar planed his escape at the end of the first section. He thought about freeing his hands, throwing off the noose, and eluding the bullets in order to get home. We can see from Payton Farquhar’s dream that our visions can seem real and life-like when in desperate situations. His journey begins with the â€Å"survival† of the fall from the bridge. '"†¦he swings through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like vast pendulum, then all at once, with terrible suddenness†¦ The rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream.'" (571). Farquhar started his escape; he freed his hands in the water and took the noose off from around his neck. Bierce alludes to the dream-like nature of the hero when Farquhar congratulate... Free Essays on An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Ambrose Bierce is the author of â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.† It is a very powerful and suspense filled story. It tells all the fears of a young father coming to light as his life swings in and out of reality. This story is written in third person omniscient. This point of view certainly heightens the mood of the plot, by conveying Payton Farquhar’s feelings and emotions to the reader. The plot deals with the theme of death and the waiting of it to come. The story begins with Payton standing on a bridge with a noose around his neck about to be hung. Payton is about to be murdered for a war crime unjustly. The unique writing style of Ambrose Bierce is what brings to life the true feelings of a condemned man. Ambrose Bierce writes this story during the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century. During this time period the two writing styles of romanticism, and realism were coming together. This melding of styles was a result of the romantic period of writing and art coming to an end, just as realism was beginning to gain popularity. â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† is a perfect example of this transition of styles as it combines elements of both romanticism and realism to create a story that can be far-fetched while still believable at times. The author has plotted the story in a very gratifying manner. The setting plays a big part because it is dived into three different sections. Sections I, actually tells the reader about when Payton was about to be hanged, and leads us from the beginning of the ceremony to the end where he is actually hung. It then goes on to Section II, where it tells us how he found out about Owl Creek Bridge, and what could happen if a civilian interfered with anything dealing with the bridge. Last of all Section III, tells the reader about Peyton’s hallucination of escaping the hanging. When reading the story for the second time, it appears to be more interesting becaus...