Discussion Topic
The writing style in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
Summary:
The writing style in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce is characterized by its vivid imagery, detailed descriptions, and a blend of realism and psychological exploration. Bierce uses shifting perspectives and a non-linear timeline to enhance the story's suspense and surprise ending, effectively immersing the reader in the protagonist's experience.
What writing style does Bierce utilize in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?
Bierce uses the dream vs. reality stylistic device in "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" to show the horrific psychological trauma that civilians experienced during the civil war. His techniques highlight the emotional and psychological affect that torure and death has on people even before they actually die.
In the story after the reader sees the man on the bridge, the story structure goes to the man's past to explain what happened. Then the story line comes back to the present and the dream sequence begins showing the man falling into the water and finally escaping. However the reader does not know it is a dream. It appears to be reality. The reader believes it is really happenening until the end, when we see that he was only dreaming of escaping.
This particular story evokes a kind of terror in the reader, in that, it highlights what a person goes...
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through in his mind just moments before he is killed.
Most people think that death by hanging occurs instantly but this story shows what may occur in those few moments before death. It is like those few moments before this man's death are lengthened to include a whole story.
When reading this story, one might ask: why would Bierce write an entire story when he could have simply stated in a sentence that an innocent civilian was hanged at Owl Creek Bridge? That is because he wanted to show the psychological state of the hanged man only moments before his death. If the reader can understand those few moments before death then war can be seen for the horror that it truly is.
How would you describe the writing style in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?
When we consider the word style, a number of different aspects can be included under this heading. However, one of the most interesting aspects of the style in this story is the way that Bierce chooses to tell this tell out of chronological sequence, using flashbacks to muddle up the order and create a distorted, muddled effect. For example, the second section of this great short story is a flashback returning to Petyon's life before he decided to destroy the bridge, before the tale returns again to Peyton's supposed "escape." Partly this confusion is to reflect the confusion within Petyon Farquhar himself as he embarks on his flight of fantasy in his "escape." However, also, it serves to heighten the dramatic contrast between the first and third sections of the story, as we are left hanging (excuse the terrible pun!), waiting to see what will happen to Farquhar and if he will die or if he will escape.
If you want to examine other stylistic aspects of this story, you might want to look at the way the point of view is altered and changes, specific word choice that suggests that Farquhar's escape is not actually real, and then the tone that the author creates in his work.