an occurance on owl creek

A detailed Summary of an occurance on owl creek

Death is an intriguing thing. From time immemorial we have feared it, used it, pondered it. Frequently, stories allow the reader into the minds of those immediatly surrounding the one who will die; but all of us "will die." Our morbid interest is in dying, the going, that threshold between death and life. What happens there? There are similiarities and differences in how death appears to the protagonist, written by Ambrose Bierce in An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, and Ernest Hemingway in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

Bierce offers An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge to show the incredible fantasy that passes through the mind of a man as he dies. Hemingway's engrossing description lies in The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Here, on the African savannah, a man encounters death slowly and with excruciating lucidness. While the differences between the two stories are easy to enumerate, it is the simliarities that may offer the most insight into the minds of the authors and, perhaps, into the minds of us all.

The setting for An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge is northern Alabama during the Civil War. Peyton Farquhar (Peyton) is said to be a planter who is left behind by the Confederate A

Here is a primary difference between Peyton and Harry. It may be the reason for the difference in how death appears to each of them. The mind of Peyton tries to deny reality and invents a fantasy that shields itself from deaths appearance until the bitter end. As a result, death has no form or character for him. It is only a sudden shock, a blow to the back of his neck followed by a blinding white light and a sound "like the shock of a cannon." Finally, death assumes a common theme: darkness and silence. Harry confronts his death head on. He is looking for death and it appears to him as a presence that occupies space, has horrendous breath, and is somehow associated with a certain hyena that skulks about the camp.

Ambrose Bierce and Ernest Hemingway both had extensive combat experience. Both had seen death occur. Both may have looked over that precipice that most fear and seen the void below. Death might come to each man differently, or it might be all the same once it has proceeded past a certain point. The comparison of these two stories shows both of the authors portraying their characters as retreating from death, one more than the other. Perhaps this is an accurate portrayal of the human mind as it nears its end. Perhaps the instinct for life is too strong and we really have no choice but to "rage against the dying of the light." One thing is certain: niether author knew unequivocally the accuracy of his portrayal. We will each find out when we reach the place where "all is white."

In The Snows of Kilimanjaro Harry's perception of death offers a breath-stopping description for the reader. What seems to be a mundane catalog of a dying man's thoughts is suddenly interrupted by Harry's realization that he is going to die. That single sentance seems to touch a nerve as it is read, almost as if we've been there, too, and death takes on a very palpable form. This thrill and the later one as death comes to Harry makes The Snows of Kilimanjaro an unusual and intruiging story.

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Approximate Word count = 1343
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English