An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Essay Example

Literary Devices and Narrative Perspective in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” set during the American Civil War, author Ambrose Pierce relates the tale of a man being hanged for committing an act of sabotage. Pierce incorporates a number of literary devices to heighten the impact of the story; one of the most notable of these is that the events of the story are not recounted in chronological order. The story begins in media res as a man is being fitted with a noose and about to be dropped from a railway bridge, before switching to an earlier time in which readers learn about the events leading up to the hanging. This structure also supports the use of another literary device, a surprise ending. Pierce also tweaks the narrative mode during the course of the story from a third-person perspective that offers a general description of the characters and physical surroundings to a third-person semi-omniscient perspective that offers insight into the thoughts of the man about to be hanged. These devices, combined with a brief but dramatic plot, serve to draw readers swiftly into the story and sweep them towards its shocking conclusion.

The subtle, yet distinct change in the narrative mode may not be the most obvious or dramatic of the literary devices Pierce employs in “Owl Creek Bridge,” but it is still one of the most effective. As the story opens, the narrative voice is confined to describing the visual elements of the setting, beginning with the line “A man stood upon a railroad bridge in Northern Alabama, looking down into the sift water twenty feet below.” This gives readers an immediate sense of place and scope, making it possible to envision the setting from a somewhat detached perspective. Pierce goes on to offer details about the physical setting and the people in attendance at the hanging, offering a portrait of a somber gathering of military men who are participating in and observing the hanging that is about to take place. The detached narrative perspective continues, as Pierce describes the condemned man as “apparently about thirty-five years of age” and “evidently…no vulgar assassin.” To this point, readers have no insight into the thoughts or mindset of the prisoner or the attending soldiers aside from what can be gleaned through outward observation.

The perspective moves closer to the action as the story continues; readers are now given descriptions of the condemned man’s physical features, his mode of dress –he is a “gentleman,” and likely a planter (i.e.- a farmer) based on the appearance of his “habit” (the clothes he is wearing). The expression on his face seems to indicate that he is in a state of relative calm, considering the dire nature of his circumstances. As the man takes in the movement of the stream below the bridge, Pierce suddenly shifts perspective to give readers insight into the man’s inner thoughts as he ponders the “sluggish stream.” This shift in the narrative mode is subtle enough to not be jarring, and it has a discernible effect on the reader. At the outset of the story the reader is offered a broad, encompassing view; with each passing sentence that perspective moves closer and closer to the central figure of the story until it bores its way completely inside his thoughts. This use of narrative shifting swiftly draws the reader into the story.

Pierce continues to elucidate the thoughts of the condemned man; readers learn that he “closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children,” but was soon distracted by his senses, his surroundings, and thoughts of escape. The ticking of his watch became so loud that the “sharp, distinct, metallic percussion” of the watch’s moving hands at first seemed as if a train might be bearing down on the bridge’s tracks. The man begins to imagine what would happen if he could free his hands; would he have time to slip from the noose and plunge himself into the water below before the soldiers could respond and shoot him? Pierce acknowledges the narrative shift at this point, noting that the man’s thoughts “have here to be set down in words” so that readers may know them. Pierce also emphasizes the rapidity with which these thoughts arose, noting that they were “flashed into the doomed man’s brain ra5ther than evolved from them.” The author quietly hints at the shape of the story to come as he describes the ticking of the man’s watch: it was not just growing louder and more distinct; it also seemed to be slowing down, leaving more space and silence between each passing second.

Just as the man is about to be dropped from the bridge to meet his demise, the chronology leaps backwards to a time when the man, now identified as Peyton Farquhar, is a well-to-do planter” and a supporter of secession during the Civil War. Moreover, Farquhar wishes to become involved in military actions and combat, through for some unspecified reason he has been forced to remain on the sidelines. Farquhar is determined to contribute to the cause of the South in some manner, however, and when a passing Confederate soldier brings news of Union soldiers repairing nearby railroads and building a stockade, Farquhar decides that he will attempt to sabotage these efforts. Unbeknownst to Farquhar, however, the soldier is in fact a Union spy who is seeking information about the plans of local Southerners.

The chronology moves forward again, to the moment that Farquhar –whose identity and actions are now known by readers- falls through the opening on the bridge. As he plunges downward the rope on his neck snaps and he plunges into the water. He swiftly frees himself and manages to swim to safety as the soldiers on the bridge fire at him. While it is soon revealed that Farquhar imagines his escape and his successful journey home in the moments before his neck broke in the fall, Pierce does offer hints about this fate before making the final revelation. The same heightened sense that allowed Farquhar to hear every ticking of his watch hands now allows him to see every blade of grass, hear the beating of insect wings, and feel every lap of the water against his face. Just as he imagines himself entering the gate to his plantation and greeting his wife, the crack of the stretched rope ends his life. In this final section, Pierce amplifies every physical detail and every moment of Farquhar’s thoughts in a manner which both foreshadows and distracts from the story’s conclusion. The combined effect of Pierce’s dramatic story elements and literary devices draws readers in as swiftly and effectively as the river racing below Owl Creek Bridge, and races to the powerful conclusion in the mere moments it takes Farquhar to fall to his death.