ipl-logo

Dramatic Irony In The Boarded Window

1026 Words5 Pages

“The Boarded Window” was first published in the San Francisco Examiner on April 12th, 1891; Bierce made some revisions before including it in Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1892). To briefly summarize this story, a man named Murlock lives alone in the wilderness in a house with a boarded window. The narrator explains that the window was boarded up sometime after Murlock’s unnamed wife died. The narrator goes on to describe the strange events that happened the night after Murlock prepared his wife’s body for the grave. While Murlock watches over the dead body, a panther enters the cabin. Murlock attempts to shoot the unknown creature in the dark, after which he falls unconscious. Upon awakening the next morning, he discovers a piece of …show more content…

Between the teeth was a fragment of the animal's ear. ” This means that Murlock’s wife put up a fight with the panther, also meaning that she regained consciousness. This is situational irony because we all expected Murlock’s wife to be dead in the first place, we also expected the blood to be dried and coagulated, not fresh. Dramatic Irony: The reader could probably assume that after Murlock notices the panther and shoots his gun in paragraphs 11 and 12 that some kind of strange result would occur. We know this, but unconscious Murlock does not. After Murlock wakes up, he was appalled by the sight of his dead wife. The use of irony and diction help build the mood of the story, while symbolism gives the author a chance to look back and have a deeper understanding of why the author uses diction, irony, and mood. For example, dramatic irony in paragraphs 11 and 12 provided the reader with suspense and apprehension. The irony in paragraph 12 leaves the reader with a cliff-hanger, maximizing their need and curiosity for what is going to happen next. The use of diction in The Boarded Window, words give off more heavy and negative connotations. For example, the word “indigence,” which means seriously impoverished, could easily have just been “poor,” or “in need,” but Ambrose Bierce uses the word "indigence" on purpose. Bierce does this to let the reader enjoy the darkness and eeriness of …show more content…

A younger Murlock, equipped with only an ax and a rifle, built his cabin. The little log house had a chimney made of sticks, flat sheet of wood for its roofs and a single door located directly opposite a window. The cabin has been the witness to Murlock’s married life and later widowed life. One time, when Murlock came home from hunting, he found his wife with high fever. Considering that there is no physician and neighbors nearby, he was forced to nurse for his wife but to no avail. He can only do much. Following the tradition of the dead, Murlock prepared his wife for burial – fixed her hair and making the final details. Though left with the thought of being alone, not a single tear show. However, his entire being is in a state of shock and with a feeling of restlessness. It was at this state that Murlock decided to place his arms on the table and dropped his face on it eventually placing him in a deeper slumber as the night draws darker. Somewhere out, howling was heard which he ignored. Murlock felt something move the table and heard some soft footsteps. He was pushed by an unseen body that created in a scuffle. He tried to reach for a flash and rifle amidst the

Show More
Related

  • Putney Mountain Research Paper

    550 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the foothills of the Putney Mountains located southwest of Charleston, West Virginia, is a little city, called Howardsville with a dark history. Ernest Cassidy, an elderly man lived in the two-story-house near the foothills was familiar with the myths, legends and lies, involving the city. The townspeople suspected him of being involved, but no one knew to what extent. The mysteries of Putney Mountain began years earlier when several strange and scary events happened and upset the residents of Howardsville leading to the legends, mysteries, and lies, which are still around to this day. For several years, Mr. Cassidy went outside the home only to collect cans and bottles using an old grocery cart.

    Read More

  • Song Of Solomon Identity Essay

    872 Words  | 4 Pages

    As Omar pulls the hide up, the skin and in this case body part that has shaped the entire novel and dilemmas the characters are faced with through race, Guitar discusses the condition black men are left in. As Omar holds the “transparent under skin tone like gossamer,” (282) Morrison reiterates the idea of race, ‘Everybody wants the life of a black man.’(282) One hunter carves into the cat as if he is coring an apple, striking right through the middle. One cores an apple to get all the bad seeds and harsh stem of the fruit out so that it is ready to eat, firm and shining. Here is where the scene shifts into some type of resurrection of the bobcat and a time when Guitar is questioning himself rather than stating his claims.

    Read More

  • Summary: An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    814 Words  | 4 Pages

    Without the use of irony, the story wouldn't be as suspenseful and there would be no build up to the

    Read More

  • Irony In The Story Of An Hour

    563 Words  | 3 Pages

    Irony is defined as the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” there are several examples of irony. In fact, the title itself is ironic in that so many unexpected accounts happen in the life of Louise Mallard in the small amount of sixty minutes. Irony usually contains an incongruity. Therefore, the most conspicuous example of situational irony is in when Bently Mallard was believed to be dead and Louise Mallard had come alive with life.

    Read More

  • Plot Summary: The Boarded Window

    340 Words  | 2 Pages

    Garrett Runager Hensley English 11/ 7th Period 02 February 2017 Part 1: Plot Summary ? The Boarded Window? is a story of an old man who lived in an isolated Ohio cabin during the days of the western frontier. The man named Murlock appears older than he really is but has never been seen by the narrator. One day, Murlock is found dead in his cabin with only one door and one window. But the window was boarded up, leading the reader to wonder why.

    Read More

  • Speak Symbolism Analysis

    1249 Words  | 5 Pages

    The purpose of symbolism in literature is to represent the turmoil and struggles of the characters which cannot directly conveyed. Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak relies on these as a subtle method of characterization and a way of expressing the themes of the novel. These symbols in the story are plentiful and make parallels to Melinda’s feelings, fears, and character development, such as mirrors, the settings of the closet and art room, and trees. The presence of mirrors in the story represent Melinda’s self-confidence (or lack thereof) and the level of acceptance she has reached with herself. Early in the story she decides to hide the mirrors in her bedroom and closet at school as a way of hiding from herself.

    Read More

  • Dramatic Irony In The House On Mango Street

    242 Words  | 1 Pages

    The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, incorporates many literary devices that assist the book. Cisneros writes with irony and imagery, which affect the meaning in her writing. She uses dramatic irony every so often in the book, for example in “What Sally Says” she writes, “her father, whose eyes were little from crying, knocked on the door and said please come back, this is the last time. And she said Daddy went and home” (Cisneros 93). Earlier, Sally’s father had beaten her for talking to a boy.

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart Suspense Essay

    674 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is also shown on page 173 and it states, “ I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in the bed, crying out-“Who’s there?”. This creates suspense because, the reader knows that the narrator has already came into the old man’s room for seven days before this. Although, each one of those nights the man was asleep so the eye was closed, but now he’s and his eye is open and the narrator would only kill him if his vulture eye was open. This then causes the reader to feel anxious and many other emotions that suspense would give you.

    Read More

  • What Is The Theme Of Irony In My Brother Sam Is Dead

    462 Words  | 2 Pages

    The use of irony helped move the plot along, and it made the story easy to read and follow along with. Irony helped show that in times of war, sides don’t exactly matter. You could be a patriot, but then be killed by your own friends, or you could be a loyalist and be killed at the hands of the British. During war, everyone must care for

    Read More

  • Symbolism In How To Read Literature Like A Professor Thomas Foster

    991 Words  | 4 Pages

    Connor MacAdam Mrs. Mary Smith AP Literature 6 21 September 2017 Title Symbolism is present in almost every piece of literary fiction. Symbolism is used in many different forms to accomplish different needs that the author possesses within their literature and the literary environment as a whole. Within How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas Foster provides common examples of what authors like to symbolize in their writing to get the most out of each sentence. Foster shows how communion, seasons, and even weather can represent a plethora of literary opportunities for an author when writing.

    Read More

  • Middle Class In The 1800s

    386 Words  | 2 Pages

    Such as Bixby’s house who’s from Barre, Massachusetts, before the remodel it had the basic 3-room configuration and was dull but was changed to have more rooms, plastered walls, wallpapered or painted a fashionable gray, and exterior improvements that made it aesthetically pleasing. Before 1840s, garbage was usually thrown out from a convenient window but after, there was a designated spot for it to protect its exterior appearance. Fifteen years later after Quilting Frolic, we see a engraving of 1831 which shows the size of the fireplace and windows enlarged. Fuel for the fireplace have changed to coal, and other material objects such as the clock over the mantel, the globe, the draperies, the footstools, the lamp in the window, and the vase in the right foreground. Objects related to work are missing and work has been banished in homes.

    Read More

  • Suspense In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat

    483 Words  | 2 Pages

    The following night after the narrator kills the cat, the house catches on fire and the next day the narrator comes back to the house to see the ruins and came to see a group of people around a strange bas relief on the wall. The narrator was terrified when he saw what the bas relief was and the narrator writes, “There had been a rope about the animal’s neck” (Poe 3).

    Read More

  • Comparing 'The Yellow Wallpaper And A Jury Of Her Peers'

    1006 Words  | 5 Pages

    The story opens with Mrs. Wright imprisoned for strangling her husband. A group, the mostly composed of men, travel to the Wright house in the hopes that they find incriminating evidence against Mrs. Wright. Instead, the two women of the group discover evidence of Mr. Wright’s abuse of his wife. Through the women’s unique perspective, the reader glimpses the reality of the situation and realizes that, though it seemed unreasonable at the time, Mrs. Wright had carefully calculated her actions. When asked about the Wrights, one of the women, Mrs. Hale, replies “I don’t think a place would be a cheerful for John Wright’s being in it” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 7).

    Read More

  • Emotions In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    953 Words  | 4 Pages

    Further, situational irony is present through the reaction that Louise Mallard has after learning about her husband’s death. Upon first learning of her husband’s death she is very devastated and distraught. As soon as she is alone in the bathroom however, it is clear to the readers she is not as upset. In fact she is slightly relieved in that “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (235).

    Read More

  • The Contrast Of Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    520 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”

    Read More

More about Dramatic Irony In The Boarded Window

Open Document