Use Of Suspense In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

The short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Bierce, is a very suspenseful story about a man who is to be executed for war crimes. There are many literary devices that contribute to the creation of suspense that foreshadow the end of this story, three of which will be reviewed. One of the literary devices that pertain to suspense is irony, this device is found all over the story, and in some cases, difficult to find. Imagery is also a key term for suspense in this story, because it gives the reader something to really think about, and question, they would question the purpose of certain objects or scenes. The sequences that are shown in the elements of plot are what transformed the terms into a suspenseful story. This story …show more content…
An example of this is the pocket watch that was taken from Farquhar in the beginning of the story, the watch resembles the end of Farquhar’s time, or it could also be translated as the end of his life. The next example of imagery for suspense is the snake in the water, the snake can resemble many things, as in Satan, this is also a biblical reference to the Devil. It could also resemble hell in general; the scene depicts him swimming under the snake, which may mean that he has escaped hell. When he finds his wife and kids, they could symbolize heaven, because to Farquhar, his home is the closing thing to heaven that he has on Earth. These devises foreshadow the end because of the events that they ultimately …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, the sergeant steps off of the board, this makes Farquhar plunge to his death, but it doesn’t tell the reader that until the end, we are waiting to see what happens next. The rising action of the plot makes up for much of the suspense in the story, when the guns and cannons fired at Farquhar, he had to find ways to dodge the oncoming fire. When he does, he is then carried by the rapids of the creek, this creates suspense, and the images in that scene also pertain to what will happen at the end of the story. Almost at the end of the story, Farquhar comes home to his wife and kids, only to be abruptly ended by the end of noose. The swiftness and unexpectedness of this ending brought out a suspenseful end to this story of love and war. The plot is what makes the literary elements come together to create suspense. Literary devices, such as imagery, irony, and the plot elements, help create suspense and foreshadow the end of this story. Irony can help the reader understand that something isn’t exactly what it seems. Imagery can help objects be more than they really are, another word for this kind of device could be symbolism, because it is making one thing something more. And the plot puts all of these together, like puzzle pieces; it’s not complete without the corner pieces. In conclusion, the suspense, and foreshadowing of events, were creatively