ipl-logo

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

1421 Words6 Pages

Often regarded as one of the more significant short stories in American literature, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce takes place during the Civil War and is about a secessionist young southerner named Peyton Farquhar. Farquhar is a prideful and fallible young man who desires to help the Confederacy, but for some undisclosed reason is not able to serve. He attempts to blow up a bridge controlled by Union soldiers, and is subsequently hanged. Ambrose Bierce designed this short story to keep the reader’s attention throughout, going into the mind of Farquhar, and he holds their attention through use of vivid imagery, realism, narrative structure, and foreshadowing. Throughout the story, Bierce uses foreshadowing to indicate …show more content…

When he first opens his eyes, he “saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible (Bierce)!” This also foreshadows death by describing a distant, fading light. On his …show more content…

One of the major reasons this story is considered a work of realism is its eloquent and abundant attention to detail. Specifically, in Part I, the author describes the exact layout of the bridge, the soldiers, the setup, and the hanging in in-depth and meticulous detail. This use of realism is made evident in the opening of the story: “Some loose boards laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners--two private soldiers of the federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff (Bierce).” Not only does this scrupulous detail reveal the realistic nature of the story, it also intensifies the plot for the reader. These details reveal that the story is taking place during the Civil War, but also help to distinguish the types of people they are in the story. Farquhar, for instance, is revealed to be a slave-owning secessionist plantation owner. Another aspect of realism used in this story is the fact that the middle class man is made out to be a sort of hero. Throughout the story, Farquhar is portrayed as a simple southerner through his thoughts and language. He does what any patriotic southerner would feel they should do, and attempts to burn down Owl Creek Bridge, an action that would cost him dearly later on. After

Show More
Related

  • Owl Creek Bridge Research Paper

    287 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today June 19th 1865, the events at Owl Creek Bridge are proof that the North is unwilling to take separation as an answer. A man named Peyton Farquhar shot at the Northern soldiers. This man from the South somehow knew about our Union encampment. “He fired on our soldiers,”said an unnamed army Captian. “We caught him near our encampment at Owl Creek Bridge,”he said.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Peyton Farquhar In The Owl Creek Bridge

    643 Words  | 3 Pages

    He tells Farquhar that they have reached The Owl Creek Bridge. The "soldier" also explains that if anyone is caught interfering with the railroads or any of the construction, they will be hanged. Farquhar jokingly asked the soldier how would it be possible to destroy the bridge. The "soldier" tells him it would be easy to burn down the bridge. As part one comes to an ending the author reveals that the "soldier" was actually a federal scout, in other words a Yankee spy.

    Read More

  • How Does Bierce Use Literary Devices In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Individualism

    638 Words  | 3 Pages

    Brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. War tends to change family life and past relationships for the worst, especially the Civil War, where it started a new precedent for war. Ambrose Bierce, author of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, served in the confederate army during the Civil war, but was eventually discharged due to him suffering a severe head wound. Though, during his time in war, Bierce was able to experience the truth behind it, and on what the government tries to hide from the public. He took this experience and he started to write and was able to sabotage the idea of war in his passages.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    688 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literary Analysis: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, written in 1890, is a story about the lengths one will go to escape death, and the vanity of man. Part one of this three part story begins with a gentleman who let himself be tricked by “soldiers of the Federal Army”. He is awaiting his execution for plotting against the Union and attempting to set the bridge on fire. He thinks about his wife and children, all while standing on the edge of a plank on the Owl Creek Bridge, with his hands bound and a noose wrapped firmly around his neck. He dreams up an elaborate escape plan, one that he knows is not only impossible but bound to fail.

    Read More

  • Fahrquhar In John Steinbeck's All Quiet On The Western Front

    83 Words  | 1 Pages

    Before we reach the climax, the author gives the reader real news that leads up to it. Fahrquhar wasn’t allowed to be in the army, and he believed, “no service was too humble for him to perform in aid of the South.” The soldier tells Fahrquhar that the driftwood was too “dry and would burn like tinder...”. He was told “any civilian caught interfering..will be...hanged.” The reader assumes that Fahrquhar will try and attempt to burn the bridge in help of the

    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 Foreshadowing

    425 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” demonstrates several foreshadowing techniques to predict Farquhar’s fate, such as imagery and preternatural plot elements. The preternatural ability to hear a watch ticking at a vociferous volume reveals that Farquhar was simply imagining that his time is ticking away. Also, the use of imagery when he is unnaturally describing the distant trees in great detail shows that he is dreaming about that as well and not living in reality, so he has not escaped the fact that he will die in real

    Read More

  • Analysis Of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge By Ambrose Bierce

    798 Words  | 4 Pages

    "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", is by Ambrose Bierce. The story tells of a Southern farmer, named Peyton Fahrquhar, who went to go disrupt the north’s railroad, which was a trap, and was caught and sentenced to be hung. He thought he had escaped death, but he was dying. This shows that time is very fluid. Sometimes what could be minutes may feel like hours or vice versa, and everyone experiences time differently.

    Read More

  • Owl Creek Bridge Symbolism

    500 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Ambrose Bierce’s story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, symbolism is used to help explain how the main character, Farquhar, reacts to his execution. Farquhar imagines his escape from execution and his journey back to his loved ones before he realizes that his execution successfully took his life. The symbolism starts and ends with the bridge where Farquhar is executed and throughout the journey towards his unavoidable death. The bridge symbolizes the connection between two worlds during Farquhar’s travels.

    Read More

  • Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing

    1452 Words  | 6 Pages

    Rogelio Ochoa Freed Period 2 Feb 8, 2023 Perception of Owl Creek Bridge One may see something as they want it to be instead of how it really is. The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce takes place in Alabama. Peyton Farquhar the protagonist of Beirce’s story is a man who is to be hanged and takes place on Owl Creek Bridge. Farquhar was told that anyone who tried interfering with the railroad construction that was happening on the bridge would be hanged.

    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

  • Death In Meursault's The Stranger

    1232 Words  | 5 Pages

    Another way is how he sees life, shown in how he focuses on physical things in life such as touch over emotions. Because death is meaningless, he sees life in a certain regard, in the sense that he focuses less on an emotional standpoint and more on a physical one. The last way

    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

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

    463 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of the damage and tarnish he had done to the bridge this would be Farquhar’s fate. Bierce tells the story in an almost confusing way, by using both back flashes and foreshadowing. In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce he uses many different literary techniques to amplify the suspense of the text. Symbolism is shown many times in Bierce’s writing. He shows the water as freedom, from death and punishment.

    Read More

  • Death Comes For Everyman Analysis

    1514 Words  | 7 Pages

    Everyman Shamyra Thompson ENGL 102-B27 Liberty University Everyman Thesis: In the morality play “Death Comes for Everyman”, the author shares his comprehension of death and how death’s treatment is a symbolic message that comes from God. The idea of the play is that God sends his message through Death which humans can’t avoid from happening when the time approaches. Everyman, the character in the play tries to reason with Death to get more time, however Death refuses Everyman’s offers of riches for Death because he has no use for material possessions. I.

    Read More

More about How Does Bierce Use Foreshadowing In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Open Document