JOB #2 – THINKING QUESTION
What do you think were some reasons for Bierce deciding to write An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge? Do you believe that the author did a good job of highlighting the human perception of death? If so please give examples.
JOB #3 – LITERATURE CONNECTIONS
The idea or theme of death in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge reminds me of A Tale of Two Cities. The event of Fahrquhar awaiting his death on the bridge is similar to Sydney Carton anticipating his death on the guillotine in France. Peyton Fahrquhar reminds me of Sydney Carton for three reasons. First these two scenes portray each man’s thought of death before it physically happens. In Fahrquhar’s case, he dreams about his wife and children and believes that he is with them at that moment. In Sydney Carton’s situation, he recites a Bible verse aloud and declares that he has finally done something meaningful in his life. In both cases each man sifts through his lifetime of memories before dying. That act leaves each man in a tranquil state of mind even though death is quickly approaching. The second reason I see a similarity between these two characters has to do with their innocent conduct. The men do not appear to be guilty of a serious crime, yet they are murdered by official...
Hi Elsah! This is a great question and I’ve wondered the same thing. What made Bierce decide to write such an odd piece of literature that does not seemingly have a point? Some of the things that I thought of was, as I said earlier, He may have been writing this based on his own experiences or the experiences of someone he knew. I also think that he wanted to put emphasis on the reality if the civil war happening directly to, not only the men fighting in it, but also common civilians who probably wanted no part in this fight.
ReplyDeleteNice thought, Claire. Maybe the reason why Bierce wrote this story, which does not seem to have a point, is to show that death itself does not seem to have a point either. Just a thought.
DeleteIn my opinion, Joshua, you've hit the nail right on the head!
DeleteNice questions, Elsah. I have heard many possible reasons why the author wrote the story, but one of those reasons, as I have said before in my response to Braden's "Thinking Question," is that Ambrose Bierce wanted to show his audience, especially those with hard feelings or hatred toward the former Confederates, that even the "enemy" was human, had families, and was capable of the same human emotion and suffering that they were.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your second question, I really don't know (since I have obviously never died!) but it's possible that during the war, Bierce or someone he knew was in a near-death experience, and he seems write about dying out of experience, whether it was the author's or someone else's.
That is true that even the enemy had emotion- they are human. That's a great possible reason! I really think the reasons for writing could be endless!
DeleteThe author braved a hail of enemy fire to rescue comrades at the Battle of Rich Mountain, one of the war's first battles. I think that qualifies as a near-death experience!
DeleteI think that Bierce did a good job with explaining human perception of death although I don’t know if that’s how every human would perceive it. But in this case, (being hanged) I think that he put good emphasis on how Fahrquhar felt waiting on the bridge, as well as when he was dropped. An example of this is the way that time seemed to pass so slowly in the minutes before he was killed. And also how he directed his last thoughts to thinking if his beloved wife and children. I thought it was interesting how he thought “if only I could free my hands, I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream” He was trying to find a way he could possibly escape this horrible fate. Sadly, however, this did not turn out in Fahrquhar’s favor.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Peyton Farquhar, even when standing on the gallows, knowing it was just a matter of time before he died, still didn't give up hope about escaping and returning to his family and was so desperate to escape execution that he resorted to delusion. I suppose the fact that Farquhar was so delirious just shows how much he loved his family and how badly he wanted to return to them. I must admit, even though it's not pointless, it's still pretty sad.
DeleteI think Farquhar had an impulsive streak, since he didn't consider how his actions might affect his family until the noose was already draped around his neck.
DeleteTrue... He kind of just "went for it" and did not contemplate his actions. I thought that part where he was trying to get the noose off was so sad!
DeleteMaybe when Bierce was a union soldier he was involved in something like this and he felt guilty. Maybe he's trying to show the good side of Farquhar as a Confederate civilian.
ReplyDeleteGreat thought, Mercy. It is possible that Bierce was involved in a situation like this and he wrote about to show that even the Union army (which were the "good guys" and heroes to the North) did terrible and unfair things in war as well, like Braden said in his response to Elsah's "Line Illuminator". The author could have thought that the other side of the Civil War had to be told.
DeleteThat's a great thought Joshua. It is true that there seems to be another side to everything. Maybe Bierce was trying to get his point across in this book that both sides, especially the North, did gruesome things. Do you guys think it was a way to people aware of what actually happened? Do you think people really did not know?
DeleteNewspapers at the time, as was seen in The Red Badge Of Courage, glorified the war initially (Matthew Brady's photographs mollified their tone somewhat). So yes, Elsah, he could very well have felt that the other side's perspective needed to be told (without propaganda).
DeleteJoshua, you make an EXCELLENT point!!! The old saying comes to mind, "the victors write history." (Although I learned the other day that, after the Civil War, an organization called the Daughters of the Confederacy went around the South forcing teachers to use history textbooks that were basically Confederate propaganda!)
Oh yeah I did hear about that! Great point. It is interesting that even at that time people were not wanting to fully share the truth about the Civil War. That manifested in the education system.
DeleteDue to lack of personal experience, I cannot say with 100% certainty how well Bierce described the human perception of death, but from the war stories I've read, where the authors talk about near-death experiences, I'd say he did an excellent job. Specifically, he aptly described the apparent slowing down of time.
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