An Occurrence at Owl Creek Essay

The wind made in the trees branches the music olian harps. Ambrose Bierce uses totallyusions and imagery to create a sense of wonderment and mysteriousness for first-time readers of his historical fiction story An Occurrence at Owl creek span. Within this short story, a man named Peyton Farquhar is cosmos hung from Owl Creek Bridge for trespassing into Union territory during the civil war. As he is dropped the forget me drug breaks and he makes his escape after dropping into the river below. After swimming by means of gunfire and a vortex, traversing through an endless forest, and suffering thirst and weariness, Farquhar finally reaches his home.Just as he is greeted by his wife, Farquhars earth ends as his neck breaks and his body is hanging from the bridge. The sudden conclusion reveals the past events, starting from the rope breaking, was all a hallucination. While the ending shocks many first-time readers, second-time readers may recognize numerous instances of figureing implemented into the figural language apply to create emotion. In order to embed this foreshadowing, Bierce creates certain events in the hallucination that tick with events outside of the hallucination.Furthermore, he adds conspicuous allusions to Greek mythology. Lastly, Bierce formulates a very unnatural and vague setting near Peyton Farquhar as he is hallucinating. Veteran readers will notice these three key components of foreshadowing. Suddenly he matt-up himself spinning like a top is an example of foreshadowing found in hallucination events. In the hallucination, Farquhar is spinning around in the vortex of water. In the actual events, he is spinning as he is dropping from the plank. Other examples of this style of foreshadowing exist in the story. e could no yearner pixilated them his eyes Conscious of the ending, veteran readers will view this quote as a sign that his neck is universe constricted in real life due to the rope around his neck. Lastly, He could no long er feel the roadwayway beneath his feet. shows that Farquhar is in midair, and close to his death. Readers of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge may at first consider these texts as an emphasis on the weariness of the doomed man. However, these reduplicate as premonition for the sudden conclusion.Allusions to a largely known fundament of Greek mythology, Hades, is tilized to further foreshadow the closure of the story. The road was as wide and straight as a city street. No field bordered it, no dwelling anywhere. this quote is a metaphorical reference comparing the scene in the Farquhars mind to the River Styx in Hades. The small instance of the word fields may refer to the handle of Asphodel, also found in Hades of Greek myth. Not so much as the barking of a dog suggested human habitation. This quote from the story is an allusion to Cerberus, the three-headed dog of the Underworld.These particular citations all refer to Hades, which is broadly used as a symbol for death. Lastl y, Bierce makes use of a strange and vague setting to give readers a feeling of mysteriousness and apprehension. This setting, found towards the concluding paragraphs of the story, also heralding Farquhars death. He distinctly heard whispers in an hidden tongue suggests paranormal entities envisioned around him. In this same setting, the black trees on both sides of the road formed a straight wall, creating a dark and morbid mood with the black trees and the testicle configuration of the trees.This bleak setting foreshadows death and instigates a feeling of eeriness. Rereading An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge with familiarity on the story can yield and uncover a myriad of clever and discerning foreshadowing the astounding denouement. Much of the foreshadowing is combined with plot elements, such as setting, suspenseful climax, and synecdochic language. Ambrose Bierce used the described techniques to contribute to the inconspicuous foreshadowing of the ending, and thus, recreat ed the meanings of his written words.