Litterary Essay : An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
War is a an atrocity and the biggest tragedy of mankind; however, people tend to forget that such conflicts have horrible consequences on each side implicated, no matter how right or wrong its cause is. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, American author Ambrose Pierce tells the story of a Southern family man and saboteur who gets caught by the Federates, during the American Civil War. At first, it may seem illogical to sympathise with a Confederate’s fate, but in this short story, the plot and the descriptions strongly reflect the fact that war is a horrible thing for everybody.
For what concerns the plot, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge criticizes the atrocities of war for both parties because it tells the story of a man that strives for his own life. Even though the hero (Peyton Farquhar) is a slave owner and probably made the life of his slaves rather harsh, his fight for his life throughout the real-time sequences of the story gives the reader a feeling of sympathy towards this man who is so close to death. As stated in the text, before his execution, Farquhar thinks : ‘’ If I could free my hands, I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home.’’ This said, the man hopes to survive to his execution. Against all odds, he does survive and manages to dodge the bullets fired at him. At this point, the emphasis is put so much on the man’s efforts to survive that it puts aside the fact that he supports the Confederate army. In the end, this slave owner dies without being able to get back to his family, but Pierce developped the plot in a way that did not focus on politics, but on the horrible thing that is trying powerlessly to survive to the consequences of war, especially death. As a matter of fact, what kind of human being would watch someone else dying without feeling a least bit of compassion.
Furthermore, the descriptions used in the story also help to bring out the horrible side of war for both sides because they help to reflect the hero’s pain before his execution. In fact, Ambrose Pierce takes a lot of time to describe how the soldiers prepare his execution by tying a rope around his neck and his wrists and how the soldiers place the wooden planks on the bridge in the proper way for the execution. Not only it gives a sense of realism to the story, but it also helps the reader to feel Peyton Farquhar’s anxiety that is caused by his apprehension of death. When the execution finally takes place, Ambrose Pierce puts the emphasis on the hero’s physical pain. For example, the author writes : ‘’Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and limbs’’. The descriptions then keep going on, and -as mentionned about the plot- let the reader forget Farquhar’s military stance to show that war can harm anyone who is implicated in it.
In conclusion, the plot and the descriptions used in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge portray war as a horrible thing, even for the ones who fight for the wrong reasons. Indeed, those two elements bring out the human side in the hero, thus making his troubles credible for any human, of any political opinion, and a statement for peace.
War is a an atrocity and the biggest tragedy of mankind; however, people tend to forget that such conflicts have horrible consequences on each side implicated, no matter how right or wrong its cause is. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, American author Ambrose Pierce tells the story of a Southern family man and saboteur who gets caught by the Federates, during the American Civil War. At first, it may seem illogical to sympathise with a Confederate’s fate, but in this short story, the plot and the descriptions strongly reflect the fact that war is a horrible thing for everybody.
For what concerns the plot, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge criticizes the atrocities of war for both parties because it tells the story of a man that strives for his own life. Even though the hero (Peyton Farquhar) is a slave owner and probably made the life of his slaves rather harsh, his fight for his life throughout the real-time sequences of the story gives the reader a feeling of sympathy towards this man who is so close to death. As stated in the text, before his execution, Farquhar thinks : ‘’ If I could free my hands, I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home.’’ This said, the man hopes to survive to his execution. Against all odds, he does survive and manages to dodge the bullets fired at him. At this point, the emphasis is put so much on the man’s efforts to survive that it puts aside the fact that he supports the Confederate army. In the end, this slave owner dies without being able to get back to his family, but Pierce developped the plot in a way that did not focus on politics, but on the horrible thing that is trying powerlessly to survive to the consequences of war, especially death. As a matter of fact, what kind of human being would watch someone else dying without feeling a least bit of compassion.
Furthermore, the descriptions used in the story also help to bring out the horrible side of war for both sides because they help to reflect the hero’s pain before his execution. In fact, Ambrose Pierce takes a lot of time to describe how the soldiers prepare his execution by tying a rope around his neck and his wrists and how the soldiers place the wooden planks on the bridge in the proper way for the execution. Not only it gives a sense of realism to the story, but it also helps the reader to feel Peyton Farquhar’s anxiety that is caused by his apprehension of death. When the execution finally takes place, Ambrose Pierce puts the emphasis on the hero’s physical pain. For example, the author writes : ‘’Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and limbs’’. The descriptions then keep going on, and -as mentionned about the plot- let the reader forget Farquhar’s military stance to show that war can harm anyone who is implicated in it.
In conclusion, the plot and the descriptions used in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge portray war as a horrible thing, even for the ones who fight for the wrong reasons. Indeed, those two elements bring out the human side in the hero, thus making his troubles credible for any human, of any political opinion, and a statement for peace.
600 words
