an occurence at the owl creek bridge
Ambrose Bierce "The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an incredible powerful and suspense story; told of all fears of a young father coming to light as his life swings in and out of reality. Ambrose Bierce writes this story during the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century. During this time period the two writing styles of romanticism, and realism were coming together. This melding of styles was a result of the romantic period of writing and art coming to an end, just at realism was beginning to gain popularity. "The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a perfect example of this transition of styles as it combines elements of both romanticism and realism to create a story that can be far-fetched while still believable at times. The author has plotted the story in a very gratifying manner.The setting plays a big part because it is dived into three different sections. Section I, actually tells the reader about when Peyton was about to be hanged and leads us from the beginning of the ceremony to the end where he is actually hung. It then goes on to Section II, where it tells us how he found out about Owl Creek Bridge, and what could happen if a civilian interfered with anything dealing with the bridge. Last of all Section III
The narrator defines each character in his/her own way. Peyton is revealed in the plot as just being a civilian that was going to be hanged. The narrator does a good job of telling us his thoughts and feelings, and also by giving us a good image, as to what he looks like. However, it is not until the beginning of Section II, which we find out the character that was being described, is actually Peyton. This goes on further as he survives his plunge into the water, releases him of the ropes that bound him, and then manages to swim away to safety while being shot at by a troop of soldiers. Finally Peyton escapes the treacheries of the running river, and the chasing soldiers in an idealized, and abstract fashion (true to the characteristics of romanticism). He then runs through the forest in a desperate hope to keep away from the soldiers. After running quite a distance Peyton makes it to a farm, as he gets closer to the actual house he realizes it is his own, and he even sees his wife coming to greet him. In what looks to be a very emotional (not to mention unrealistic) ending Peyton runs to fall into his wife's outreached arms. However at this point realism kicks in as Peyton is snapped back into reality and she quickly disappears. He then drops the last few feet to his death, being hung off the Owl Creek Bridge. This very
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 900
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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