Suspense can maintain a story’s vividness. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, Peyton Farquhar, a Southern sympathizer, awaits his hanging above Owl Creek Bridge. He envisions his lengthy and dramatic escape from the rope, only seconds before his actual horrific death. Bierce’s brilliant usage of literary techniques, such as sensory imagery and similes, aid the ever-growing suspense of Farquhar’s unfortunate situation.
To begin, Bierce’s use of sensory imagery, specifically sight, engrosses the reader into the increasingly suspenseful plot. Following Farquhar’s miraculous bolt from the hanging, he “had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly around, himself the pivotal point, and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the two privates, his executioners” (Bierce 471). As Farquhar gazes up at all that are eyeing him, he is oblivious to what will transpire subsequently, and what actions these men will take against him. Farquhar’s obliviousness is transferred to the reader, …show more content…
Long past Farquhar’s emotional getaway, he finally arrives home, and as he is about to envelop his wife “a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon-then all is darkness and silence!” (Bierce 473). Although Farquhar’s escape trek leading up to this quote is somewhat blurred, Bierce undeniably shocks the reader. When Farquhar is about to embrace his wife, it insinuates a happy ending, however, he is blinded by a light which is antecedent to darkness and silence. This simile compares the sound to the shock of a cannon, vividly depicting Farquhar’s death. He is literally “snapped” back to reality and before realization, he is dead. Once again, Bierce’s use of similes provide vivid descriptions which maintain the suspense and
To begin, Bierce’s use of sensory imagery, specifically sight, engrosses the reader into the increasingly suspenseful plot. Following Farquhar’s miraculous bolt from the hanging, he “had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly around, himself the pivotal point, and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the two privates, his executioners” (Bierce 471). As Farquhar gazes up at all that are eyeing him, he is oblivious to what will transpire subsequently, and what actions these men will take against him. Farquhar’s obliviousness is transferred to the reader, …show more content…
Long past Farquhar’s emotional getaway, he finally arrives home, and as he is about to envelop his wife “a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon-then all is darkness and silence!” (Bierce 473). Although Farquhar’s escape trek leading up to this quote is somewhat blurred, Bierce undeniably shocks the reader. When Farquhar is about to embrace his wife, it insinuates a happy ending, however, he is blinded by a light which is antecedent to darkness and silence. This simile compares the sound to the shock of a cannon, vividly depicting Farquhar’s death. He is literally “snapped” back to reality and before realization, he is dead. Once again, Bierce’s use of similes provide vivid descriptions which maintain the suspense and