For example, Bierce uses the pendulum not only as a significant metaphor for time, but also as a simile for Farquhar’s body, which “swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek Bridge” (Bierce 76). Thus, a key element in the story is the distention of time and the blending of fantasy and reality.

The ticking watch sets the reader up for this shift in the protagonist’s senses, as both suggest a certain change in perception in the moments before death. The ticking watch, in turn, makes it easier for Bierce to segue into the surreal near-dream of Farquhar’s escape and flight.

The ticking of Farquhar’s watch represents the coming of Death and how time is running out, and that he’s paying attention to and acutely aware of the smallest details; his mind is going faster and faster, a.k.a the whole escape in Part 3.

Overall, Bierce’s description of Peyton’s heightened senses, illusory perception, and strange journey home are clues that Peyton is imagining his escape.

The commandant posted the order quoted by the scout because he had good reason to fear attacks from self-appointed guerrillas, all of whom owned rifles and hated the invaders. Peyton Farquhar just happened to be one of the Southern activists who got caught. He was hanged from the bridge mainly to set an example.

The main irony in this story is situational irony. Situational irony occurs when some kind of difference is exposed between what is expected to happen and what really happens. In other words, what happens is not what the audience was expecting to happen.

The main themes in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” are the brutality of war, disillusionment, death, and psychological escape. Brutality of War: Farquhar learns that there is no glory or romance in war; it is a brutal exercise in which human lives have no value and death becomes merely an “occurrence.

In this story, Farquhar is being hung exactly because all is not fair in love and war. He is being hung because he has committed an illegal act. Now, this is even more ironic because of the fact that he got tricked into committing the illegal act.

Through the use of point of view, symbolism, and irony in Bierce’s, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the reader is able to understand the main character, Peyton Farquhar, and his mentality as he is dying.

The purpose is to provide background or context to current events in the story. Section two explains that the man being hanged is Peyton Farquhar. He is a southern plantation owner. Additionally, he is eager to find some way to be a part of the southern fight against the Union.

In Greek mythology the dead must cross a river to reach the underworld. Moving water also symbolizes moving between reality and the world of imagination. When Farquhar imagines that the noose has broken and he has dropped into the creek below, its waters allow him to escape and return home, if only in his mind.

In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the mood is both solemn and suspenseful.

Farquhar was caught trying to burn down the bridge in order to keep the army from crossing it, and the scout lured him there by telling him how the timber seems quite flammable.

Another example of foreshadowing in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is to be found in what is going through Peyton Farquhar’s mind as he is standing on the bridge with a noose around his neck waiting to be hanged. He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him.

At the end of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Peyton Farquhar daydreams about reuniting with his family before he is hanged. The story ends with his lifeless body swinging beneath the rafters of the Owl Creek Bridge.

A dutiful woman who serves as an emblem of the comfort and domestic security Farquhar seeks. Yet Farquhar’s wife also represents the domain that Farquhar rejects in setting off on his reckless mission to cripple the North’s campaign.

Peyton’s last thought was that he had arrived home to his wife and children. At that moment, Peyton’s body reached the end of the rope, his neck was probably broken, and he was dead.

As Peyton Farquhar is getting executed, by hanging, as the noose is put around his neck he begins to dream about the possibility of escape. There are several clues in the narration that give the reader an idea that the escape is a fantasy.

From the set up to Peyton Farquhar’s death is about 5 minutes; his dream is less than a second.

The cannon continually pushes Farquhar to continue his journey through his dream and back to reality. The cannon continually pushes Farquhar to continue his journey through his dream and back to reality.

suffocated

What surprising event happens after Farquhar first loses consciousness? The soldiers shoot at Farquhar and fire a cannon at him.

Peyton Farquhar is definitely a Southerner, a Confederate sympathizer and staunch supporter of the South in the Civil War, but he is a civilian plantation owner at the time of the story which takes place during the war.

Q. What activity opens the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”? A southern spy is put on trial. A man is going to be hanged.

What is the main function of the flashback in the story? it is symbolic of war. it is ironic after he seems to escape. it is expected since he had obviously been in the wrong.

By telling the events of the story out of chronological order, Ambrose Bierce sets the scene for the reader, establishes the stakes, and creates the opportunity for a surprise ending. The story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is something that takes place in moments at the eponymous bridge.

Resolution – Farquhar is hanging from the bridge. He is deader than a doornail. Dialogue can also reveal what a character is like. When Farquhar says, “The officer will not make that mistake a second time, it is as easy to dodge a volley as it is a single shot,” it shows that Farquhar is used to combat somewhat.

Answer. Bierce used the literary technique of flashback in his stories. Section 2 uses a flashback and shows the circumstances leading to the man being on the verge of execution on the bridge. Readers now learn the man’s history and realize that it’s the man’s foolhardiness that got him into trouble.

The change in perspective adds the necessary drama to make the flashback exciting and, more importantly, believable.

The narration is divided into three sections. The first section is written in present tense, suggesting it is the current event. The second section acts as a flashback to provide information leading up the present situation.