Symbolism In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

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“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” written by Ambrose Bierce. This short story is set in the year between 1861 and 1865. This story takes place during the American Civil War and is set in Alabama. This story is about a man named Peyton Farquhar he also has a family. The story starts out with Farquhar about to be hanged by confederate soldiers at Owl Creek Bridge. In the story right before Farquhar is being hanged, the unexpected happens, and the rope breaks allowing him to escape from the soldiers. He tries to escape and run home to his family but then the story take an unpredictable twist. “The story by Bierce that most frequently appears in anthologies, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” is a perfect example of the “snap ending,” which …show more content…
It symbolizes life and death of Peyton Farquhar. The thin board that he is standing on is his chance of living. The bridge also linked the north and the south in the civil war. The yanks would try and take over it to gain access to the south. “Farquhar goes to Owl Creek Bridge to set it afire; the driftwood caught against one end of the bridge “would turn like tow” or hemp, hashish Conlogue”(37). Farquhar was tricked by a spy and is captured and the soldiers were ready to kill him. Farquhar is then staring at death as he looks down at the water below the bridge as he has soldiers who are putting him to his death. He then falls and the rope around his neck what he thinks breaks but actually his neck snaps, killing him. He imagines himself being freed after the rope breaks and he finds his way home to his family but it was all imagined. He is killed and his body hanging up above the waters. Before he fell to his death he wanted his last thoughts be of his family. As he was looking down at the water he imagined his family at home. As he fell he still had the thought of his family that is why he imagined the rope breaking and him escaping to them and being …show more content…
She symbolized Farquhar’s name, what the bridge symbolizes, and Farquhar’s death. Farquhar’s name means bravery and also is one of a Scottish king. The bridge symbolizes life and death and also the connection of the civil war. Peyton Farquhar’s death symbolizes that the end was just the beginning and life can be taken away just as fast as it is given. Farquhar is a brave man who was tricked by a spy. He went to the bridge and was trapped by two soldiers and the captain who had his hands tied behind his back with a rope around his neck. When he fell he thought he was going to escape by the rope breaking. He falls through the bridge into the running waters underneath the bridge. The captain orders the soldiers to attempt to shoot and kill him in the water. He swims away to safety in the woods that have given him cover from the gunfire. He goes through the woods attempting to reach his wife and kids who are waiting on his return home. He finally finds his way back and as he gets closer and closer he feels a pain in his neck. As he gets closer it hurts more and more but in the end it is all a dream. His body is left hanging under the bridge he was strangled to death. The pain he felt in his neck and the noise he heard when he fell was his neck breaking after the rope reached its

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