An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Fantasy Vs Reality Essay
Fantasy versus reality is a theme used in many short stories to misdirect readers and make settings or objects seem what they are not. The theme is often used to draw a blurred line between what is make-believe and what is truth. Many authors use the theme to mislead readers into thinking something else is going on, only to reveal the truth later in the story. This theme is apparent in the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce. Bierce was a writer born in 1842. In 1862, he attended Kentucky Military Institute. He then continued his military services by enlisting in the Union Army during the beginning of the Civil War. After fighting in several military engagements, Bierce left the army in 1867 and became a writer for a magazine and then a news outlet. After becoming a well-known writer, Bierce used his military experience as a source for his short stories. He was admired but often frowned upon for being a man of mystery and contradiction. (“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” 161) The …show more content…
Throughout the story, Bierce writes in a way that seems to oppose the theme he uses. Through Bierce’s telling of the story, he suggests fantasies like Farquhar’s are cowardly and will often lead to negative consequences (“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” 163) “…he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like a shock of a cannon – then all is darkness and silence.” (Bierce) This quote, near the end of the story, is what reveals that Farquhar has been fantasizing the whole length of the story. The quote also shows that he is ultimately executed and that the fantasy was his personal distraction from the harsh reality he faces. Farquhar transforms from a military dreamer into a man who is desperate to escape the horrors he faces. (Wilson and Moss 258) Farquhar’s mind creates illusions that distract him from what is really
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An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Essay
948 Words | 4 PagesHow do you cope with the reality of day to day life? I would like to think I handle the reality of day to day life moderately well like everyone else. However, I began to question myself once again as I read Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” This story, with its unexpected ending, had me rereading it several times to pull out key details that led me down the wrong path the first time.
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425 Words | 2 PagesIn 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
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