Owl Creek Bridge Figurative Language

There is a lot of figurative language invlovled in the story "An Occorence at Owl Creek Bridge" such as similies like "He opened his eyes in the darkness" or " The strokes of the water spiders'-legs, like oars which had lifted their boat - all these made audible music."
Bierce also used imagery to a great effect in ''An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.'' Perhaps the best example is when Peyton plunges into the river, frees himself from his restraints, and regains his senses. 'He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf--he saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies, the grey spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies' wings, the strokes of the water-spiders' legs, like …show more content…
Through personification, the narrator makes "death" another character in the story. Though the soldiers have witnessed death numerous times, their interaction with the "dignitary" death is uniquely solemn and formal. "Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him."
The gun was a symbol of death because it was the weapon that ultimately ended Payton's life, but the driftwood can make a really good symbol too because The driftwood indicates Farquhar’s distorted sense of time. As he looks down, he sees the water “racing madly” beneath him, then sees the “dancing” driftwood. He is struck by how slowly it seems to be moving in the suddenly “sluggish” stream. This abrupt change in his perception marks Farquhar’s transition from reality to