an occurrence at owl creek bridge by ambrose bierce analysis

The author Bierce uses preternatural plot elements to catch the reader’s attention. He believes that this happens when he gets loose from it. Farquhar does not know his neck is swollen by the rope that he is hanging on.

His eyes felt he no longer close them ’’ (18). He that it had a circle of black where the rope had it. For example in this quote “ His neck in pain and lifting his hand to it found it horribly swollen.

Suspense is a difficult emotion to evoke in a piece of literature, but Bierce was obviously no novice to keeping a reader on edge.The next thing he uses is the preternatural plot element. The death of Peyton Farquhar, though noble, was unexpected and possibly the most triumphant moment in the short story. Bierce’s use of imagery, explicit detail, and foreshadowing heightens the feelings of both his characters and his readers, and also creates a very realistic story. In conclusion, Ambrose Bierce’s enticingly dark story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” not only leaves the reader on the edge of their seat, it allows the reader to read a truly amazing piece of literature. Bierce, though frustrating, kept the reader on the edge of his/her seat until the very end. The simile above signified Peyton’s neck finally breaking and the end of his oxygen deprived dream, thus the conclusion and end of suspense. As can be seen here: “As he is about to clasp her, he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck a blinding white light blazes all about him, with a sound like the shock of a cannon … Peyton Farquhar was dead his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge” (405). A simile is a comparison using like or as, and when used in the context of this story heighten many different emotions. Bierce, in this short story, tends to favor similes.

In every piece of literature, ever written, there is some type of figurative language used. Bierce’s use of explicit detail creates a grotesque scenario and heightens the realistic qualities of the story, especially since its used alongside imagery and figurative language. Keen Poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and limbs” (401). The author’s use of details can be seen in the following excerpt: “As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge, he lost consciousness and was as one already dead … the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation. Often time’s authors struggle with too much implicit detail or too much explicit detail, but Bierce knew when enough was enough and it really shows in his story.

An occurrence at owl creek bridge by ambrose bierce analysis