An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

The fact that he is focused on the unfairness of being shot seems hilarious to me, seeing as how he didn’t question the justice of being hanged or drowned. The whole situation seems a little unfair to me.

I love the way the sentence structure in this paragraph makes you read faster and faster as he’s struggling more and more. It’s like fast-paced, pulsing music in a movie, but in the reader’s head.

Just for reference, a diminuendo is a musical term meaning to get gradually softer, or decrescendo.

I totally agree, but maybe during this time it was not as bad to be hanged as it was to be shot? For instance, you are normally read a statement which states the reasoning why you are being hanged, whereas people often kill with guns for no reason at all, or without warning. In this case, there would still be “reason” to be shot, but also this may refer to the pain involved with being shot versus the sudden “painless?” death of being hanged.

I agree with Jordan, of all the sections I feel like I read this one the fastest, just because so much is taking place so quickly, and it’s very “exciting.” Also, I’d like to point out that it is almost as if someone else is forcing him to untie himself. I think this may have something to do with the realization that he did not die, and his actions are passive because he is thinking so much about having survived, that his emotions are conqering his thoughts more than his actual actions.

I think that having realized he just defeated death, Peyton begins to notice the tiniest things in life that normally we take for granted or fail to even recognize. I’ve noticed that for me personally, whenever something eye-opening happens in my life, I find myself reliving the smallest adventures, remembering the simplest gestures, and being thankful, if only for that instant, that the little things can mean the most in life. That was a little deep, but I think that this is an important message that the author is trying to convey.

The shining bits of metal here are spears, which I find interesting, as they are not mentioned in Part I. The only weapons described are guns and a cannon.

When the author says “he thought with the rapidity of lightning:,” I think that this implies an adrenaline rush of him trying to figure out his next move. I think it would’ve been a good point to include the beating of his heart, as i’m sure it was very upbeat at this moment.

I think that Peyton receiving an abrasion from the gravel serves as a reality check.
Before this point everything happens so quickly, and it is all hard to believe. However, this physical pain is proof that he has succeeded in escaping death.

I just want to reiterate the “still time” scenario I mentioned earlier in part I. Peyton almost reaches his wife, but it is too late. Whether part III takes place between the ticking of the watch and the officer nodding, or between the officer stepping of the plank and Peyton falling to his death, im not sure. Any ideas?

I think that Part III happens after the officer steps off and before Farquhar falls. Part III seems to be some kind of out of body experience. It’s almost like someone’s life flashing in front of him as he dies, except in this case he is longing to be with his wife again.
Also, it reminds of Gladiator a lot. (if you’ve seen the movie you’ll understand)

Used in this context, “grape” refers to the “grapeshot”, an artillery ammunition consisting of a number of medium-sized iron balls.

Aeolus was the Greek god of wind. Here, “Aelolian harps” acts as both auditory imagery and a mythical allusion. It also reinforces how majestic the “enchanted spot” was for Farquhar.

I like the use of alliteration in this paragraph- “fatigued, footsore, famished”. The alliteration supports the author’s purpose of describing Farquhar’s state of being- it’s almost as if he was too tired to include conjunctions in the writing.

The phrase “merely recovered from a delirium” acts as irony in this point of the story, since we are about to find out that Farquhar is in fact in a sort of delirium, but has yet to recover from it.

Also, I’d like to mention that this paragraph is written in the historic present. Although the story takes place in the past, this passage is written in a present tense. It makes the reader get “caught” in the action of the story, and makes it feel like it is actually happening right at that moment.

Here the writing tense changes again- this time back to the past tense. It give closure and a sense of finality to the story.

I think it is interesting that in the first sentence it “gives away” the ending. It comes out and states that he is already dead.

I agree that I read this paragraph faster than the others. Also, it seems to me that this paragraph happens in a short amount of time, but everything is slowed down. As in the first part, Peyton experiences his life in slow motion almost.

I agree. He notices all the little details of life, and the diction gives this atmostphere to the story.

After realizing that he has basically just escaped death in the last paragraph, Peyton begins to see the soldiers and knows that he is not in the clear yet. Every movement is exaggerated in Peyton’s eyes as he become filled with fear and anxiety.

I feel kind of bad for Peyton because the whole time I was thinking that he was going to get to go home, and then he gets shot (kind of) in the back. There is a lot of irony in this paragraph.

Its amazing how keen his senses are that he can actually focus so closely on the man’s eyes how are aiming at him. The fact that he did not know that it was a bullet that missed him at first shows that he was focused on escaping and that his other senses were dulled up until this point. Could he really be that lucky to have not been shot by the “famous marksman”?

Now Farquhar could not see the enemy and his sense of hearing became more alert. He not only heard the words that came out of the lieutenant’s mouth, but also the tone and he linked this tone back to his prior knowledge of hearing this same thing at the camp. This can be linked to what you might think of as the chant to walk the soldiers through the motions of aiming and firing at the target.

Proves how rythmic and standard it is to aim and try and kill someone. It does not seem natural to be that disconnected from humanity that shouting another human being is so routine.

It is interesting that he thinks time passed quickly when he was underwater. Normally when you are in a high-tense situation everything seems to slow down so that you can comprehend everything. Again, the soldiers do everything uniform and yet they still miss the target.

Now Farquhar seems to be more conscious and he realizes his chances for survival are slim. He expects that all of the soldier’s will now be shooting at him simultaneously and there will be too many bullets to dodge by going underwater. It is interesting that his thoughts are in quotes. Normally only dialog is in quotes and thoughts are just added as normal text.

It is funny that before this, he thought that the cannon would not be wasted on him again since it had missed the first time. Maybe they moved the cannon assuming that he had made it down stream and that he had gotten out somewhere not far. They were correct. Another thought is that it really is a farewell shot and thet were giving it one last chance to kill him or to let him know that they were giving up on him after this last one. He must not have done something that bad that they were really wanting to kill him or considered him a threat.

In his essay “Beating the bounds with Ambrose Bierce; or, Learning to read without getting shot,” William Conlogue calls this final paragraph a “verbal slap[...] in the face [consisting of] carefully arranged mechanisms sprung on careless readers to reveal to them their own naivete.” This sentence makes the readers “uncomfortably retrace, characters’ uncertain situations, and in doing so, readjust their reading.”

I think that on first reading of this paragraph, most people have no idea that this is fantasy. Only on second reading can the reader see Bierce’s frequent use of verbs like “seemed” and “appeared” and just the general sense of the situation being too extreme to be true. The reader wants to be fooled.

I see this paragraph as a strange separation of body and mind. Farquhar’s hands seem to be moving on their own and he watches on like a detached observer. Also, the descriptions remind me of what I would imagine hell to be like; the agony that the character feels is overwhelming.

I was surprised by the fact that assuming this was all imagined by Farquhar that he can imagine that much detail. Usually my dreams do not include such specifics. This could be another technique Bierce uses to fool the reader.

I think Bierce’s use of the word “hunted” is significant, because it brings to mind the hunting of animals. It is almost as if the war has turn men into animals whose lives are unimportant and can be easily taken away.

The fact that Farquhar was “flung upon the gravel [...] behind a projecting point which concealed him from his enemies” shows how lucky he is. This scene could also be interpreted as divine intervention. Someone had helped him out; it is miraculous that the man has survived for this long. However, we should also remember that this is all fantasy and this is only how Farquhar wish everything had happened.

The last couple of sentences in this passage really stood out to me. I liked the personification of the gnats dancing, and the gnats, dragon flies, and water spiders making “audible music.” I also think that the simile that compares the strokes of the water spiders’ leg to oars from a boat helps the reader imagine what Farquhar is noticing.

The way he was thinking with the “rapidity of lightning” relates back to the beginning where he saw the slow current racing madly. Both of these events suggest the adrenaline rush that Kaitlyn brought up. I also agree that the word hunted is used to bring up images of animals because throughout the entire story there are animal-related words, one example being “muzzled.”

The fact that sand looked like “diamonds, rubies, emeralds” further show how one’s perceptions can be changed by near-death experiences. Earlier in the story Farquhar was noticing his keen senses; his ability to notice things that he never noticed before. Now he is taking something that is pretty dull for the ordinary man and turning it into something as valuable as treasure. I guess it is pretty valuable to him because it represents the fact that he is still alive when his chances for survival were so low.

The line about the trees “terminating on the horizon in a point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective” adds to the dream-like state in which this part of the story is being told. Relating actual scenery to the way you draw it on paper takes the story out of the perspective of reality and reminds the reader that this isn’t actually happening.

I thought it was interesting that the author ended this paragraph with an exclamation point. The phrase that immediately precedes the exclamation mark–then all is darkness and silence–seems to make time stand still and make the action in the story pause for a second, but when I think of exclamation points, I usually think of them being used when action is intensifying.

The line “he had not known that he lived in so wild a region” acts as a tip to the reader that this is all in his imagination. Reading that line reminded me of when I have dreams of familiar things but something is out of place or isn’t right, and yet I don’t even realize I’m in a dream no matter how absurd the wrong thing is. This is why his revelation is uncanny. I think that statement is foreshadowing that something isn’t quite right with what is happening (it is all Farquhar’s imagination).

Zhenya makes a great point – the reader wants to believe Farquhar will make it. This part is quite different from the movie version. The movie seemed to be a lot more concerned with his escape, while the story describes more about the feeling of it all. I love some of these metaphors the author uses, even if it makes it a hard read.

This is very descriptive and helps you really see what is going on. I can imagine the soldiers in silhouette – their blue uniforms against the blue sky – seemingly in slow motion shooting at Farquhar. The paragraph seems to be like a dream, where the details are fuzzy but the emotions and looks are vivid.

This paragraph stands in contrast to the previous one, where Farquhar is much more focused on the realities and less about the metaphorical beings around him. I noticed the same thing, Amanda – Farquhar seems to feel like he is destined to live and can beat luck.

As Amanda said, this is where the “singsong” quality comes from. I find it interesting that the author chose to write out the words and try to make the reader feel the song rather than just describe it. It has seemed that, thus far, the author has preferred to seem detached – except when going inside Farquhar’s mind – and in this instance it seems that the author is definitely trying to get the reader to feel something.

Are you sure they are spears, Kaitlyn? I thought the author was describing bullets. Of course, Farquhar is unable to “snatch” out a bullet from his neck, but he felt like he could. This paragraph returns to the dreamy state of being described in earlier paragraphs. I find it interesting that, in his dreams, he was so encapsulated by reality in some points and so detached in others.

This must be why the soldiers are guarding prisoners and not on the front. Farquhar believes himself to be extremely lucky since they are such bad shots. Understandably, Civil war-era rifles had a very limited range, but for several marksmen to miss repeatedly is quite a spectacle. Farquhar seems to believe himself to be safe and knows that their shots are ineffective.

Craig, i don’t think the first sentence states that he’s dead. It says that he was “as one already dead” because he lost conciousness and was about to drown, so for all intensive purposes you could call him dead, however he eventually “awakened”.

The capitalization of diminuendo and use of exclamation points are interesting. Again, it seems like the author is trying to force the reader to see something by it. The diminuendo refers to the whistle of the cannonball as it shoots by and continues on its path into the forest. Another interesting thing is the use of “strangled.” The noose did not strangle him, the fear did not strangle him – but the river did?

As Rachel said, grapeshot is the use of a lot of small objects – whether balls, rocks, or anything else that can do damage. The “report” is the sound of the shot, which, as a result of the collection of small objects, comes after the shots have already hit. He says it is a good gun because it has a much larger area of effect – although it is extremely inaccurate, it hits a very wide area and has a much greater chance of hitting Farquhar.

The cannon fired the grapeshot at Farquhar as he expected. However, his luck continues as the grapeshot – which almost definitely should have hit him in real life – missed because of the trees. The random farewell signals Farquhar’s success over his executioners.

I agree with Zhenya, it seems like his body is moving of its own accord and he doesn’t realize what it is doing until he actually sees it. He’s even amazed at how quickly and efficiently his hands are moving and allowing him to escape.

Farquhar’s dream-like state continues as he quenches his thirst without water and walks without feeling the ground. He must be close to exhaustion after the previous events, but he is able to continue on. Mentally, however, he is obviously not all there.

It’s amazing that Peyton is able to take all of this in and notice it in such detail as if he has all the time in the world. This paragraph seems to slow everything down, when infact everything is moving so quickly.

I love the suddenness of this line. The Owl Creek bridge that he went to destroy is now his death. It reminds the readers that few people escape the noose, regardless of how deserving they may be. However, is it truly the reader or the author who created this perception?

In the previous paragraph, Peyton slowly took everything in and was appreciating everything that surrounded him, but as this slow realization continued, he noticed the soldiers and the captain and the sergeants and everything else around him and a contrasting sense of urgency came over him and everything began to speed up again.

As hard as it is to believe, when I re-read the paragraph I think they actually may be spears or arrows, because the bits of metal were “singularly flattened” and moved “slowly downward”. Bullets would not be flattened or move slowly, and like you said, could not be snatched out either.

In the last couple paragraphs that consist of Peyton’s dialouge with himself, it seems that Peyton is seriously doubting his ability to escape. This is a contrast to the beginning of Part 3, where it seemed he felt he was almost destined to escape and survive. Now, he has become sort of a pessimist, saying things like “the officer will not make that… error a second time” or “I cannot dodge them all!” and “that is a good gun”.

Soham is right, but now that you point it out, it could be taken as foreshadowing, because we all know he really is “as one already dead” because he…is. Or getting ready to be.

I think this is more a record of things we all have noticed but never really appreciated. I mean I have seen leaves and bugs and dew, but he views them all as having more life than he soon will. They are humming and sliding and beating–living. He now appreciates them.

I like how the soldiers described as “gigantic”, because at this point in the adventure, they are his biggest issue. This shows more priority than true size.

I love how the lieutenant’s voice is so strangely and accurately described. “Monotonous singsong” is a pretty big contradiction, but if you’ve ever heard a military commander, this describes it perfectly. It shows how keen his senses are when listening to his death sentence.

I thought they were bullets, too, but why would they be flattened? I guess I assumed the contact with the rushing water, but that really doesn’t make any sense. But also, if they are arrows, why would they be uncomfortably warm? Bullets would be warm, and contact with water would slow them down, plus his mind is kind of slowing things down already. I’m not entirely sure what they are.

I think the reason that this paragraph sticks out is because of the heavy use of personification. Lines like “his heart…trying to force itself out at his mouth” and “his disobedient hands gave no heed to the command” jump out because body parts, although human, do not think for themselves.

While this paragraph does make it seem like Farquhar has keen senses so that he can see the color of the eye of the shooter through the scope of the rifle, I believe this is exaggeration. This kind of sight seems impossible. It does, however add to the suspense and adventure of the story.

The use of words like “metal ramrods,” “barrels,” and “sockets” adds to the story. It puts the reader right in the Civil War times when these were the most effective weapons.

This paragraph shows a mixture of emotions. At one point he felt “giddy and sick” and at another point, he “wept with delight.” It should be mentioned that these are both paradoxes. These mixed emotions might be his reaction towards death.

The thought of his family instills some sense of assurance in Farquhar. For example, he “found a road which led him in what he knew to be the right direction.” This follows the belief that if you want something bad enough, you’ll know exactly how to get it. Also, he was sure that the stars and the trees were arranged in a significant manner, showing him the way. It should be clear to the reader by now that Farquahar is in a dream-like state.

The author describes Farquhar’s body as if it is already lifeless in this paragraph. With a swollen neck, open eyes, a swollen tounge, and nothing beneath his feet, the reader can already imagine Farquhar’s dead body hanging from the noose.

Even though Farquhar is not dead yet and had been “awakened,” the language here is some of the most intense yet. Very violent, but without being ridiculously dismal.

I think punctuation is equally as important in this paragraph being “fast” and “exciting.” Notice how many sentences in this paragraph are exclamations.

I agree with Dan. Such detail seems almost ludicrous (but intentional) and undermines the actuality of the supposed keenness of his senses, but it sure makes the story more interesting.

Had we not already been aware of the true tragedy of the story’s ending, this is where that glimmer of hope would begin to fade. Farquhar’s pervasive doubt foreshadows bad things for him.

The lines Colleen mentioned (“He had not known … uncanny in the revalation.”) are, to me, some of the most tragic in this entire story. There have been spots in the story where hope for Farquhar seems to fade before, by some odd stroke of luck, springing right back, but this is one of the more tragic reminders that it will not end well for Farquhar.

This paragraph is so short, so simple, so to-the-point. A very intense ending, even for a story that started out mild and became more intense. As Zhenya mentioned, Conlogue nails this right on the head – I was about to use his exact phrase: a “verbal slap” to the face.

i agree with soham that this paragraph, especially the end, seems to slow things down rather suddenly. the pretty figurative language in the last couple sentences is very peaceful and almost optimistic — it definitely forces the reader to stop and “breathe” after the previous paragraphs, which to me were very suspensful & moved very fast.. it really does give the impression of peyton having a new, more appreciative view of the world after just escaping certain death.

i love this paragraph because i can picture it in my head.. i feel like i am seeing through peyton’s eyes. while it definitely plays out like a dream (it seems as though everything is silent and happening in slow motion, even though it is actually taking place in about a split second), i think this scene acts as a “calm before the storm” as peyton comes back to reality.

this pararaph reminds me of paragraph three in that it definitely slows the action down as peyton takes time to look at his surroundings. once again, the suspensful, fast-paced action stops abruptly as he takes in the nature around him with awe.. as before, i think this is largely meant to signify new feelings of freedom and appreciation after somehow “escaping” his fate once again.

i love how bierce seems to constantly shift back and forth between “dreams” and “reality” (even when this supposed “reality” is within the dreaming.. if that makes any sense whatsoever). this is definitely a solid note to end on. the sudden shift back to reality is obviously meant to surprise the reader, and i think it’s the perfect way to end the story — in just one abrupt sentence the entire story is concluded, and the reader is left completely caught off guard.

The capitalization of “DIMINUENDO” I think is very interesting as well because the sound of the cannon ball is going away and decreasing, but the capitalization implies that it is something loud and bold. Maybe it is used to show Peyton’s excitement and shock that it didn’t hit him. I also think that it is interesting that he refers to the situation a “the game”. That just doesn’t seem to be the right word. I’m sure that it probably has some meaning, I am just not sure what it is?

I found it interesting that Andros picked the color gray for the soldiers eyes. It seems to be the color of choice for Andros because in the previous section he also said the “gray-clad soldier”. I wonder if the actual color was symbolic of the difference between the two opposing sides. Due to the color being associated to dreariness, it might have also represented a soldiers sight that was colored this way because of all that he had seen by the war.

In military parlance a volley is a simultaneous discharge of weapons. Although a spear would be a good explanation for what the weapon was, to describe the release of the weapon he heard “the dull thunder”. The release of a spear does not make noise.

I like how he just notices that all the men are shouting and realizing that he is still alive. I wonder what was going on above the surface while Peyton was underwater.

I have never heard that men with gray eyes were the keenest, and it does seem silly that at first, every man looks horrible and grotesque and now he can see their eye color.

I like how he used “hunted man” as synonymous to Peyton, to show how cruel this whole scene was. I agree that it does make him sound like an animal.

Bierce should really be credited for his amazing use of language here. Even though it is violent imagery as Michael stated, the author describes it beautifully. It also helps to lengthen a scene, which in actuality occurs very quickly.

This is yet another example of how the soldiers treated death with such formality. It is almost striking at how they are able to emotionally distance themselves from the situation and carry out their duty. I wonder if Bierce didn’t remember from his experience in the Civil War. how it felt to carry out killing someone with such formality.

I think this sentence also capitilizes on the idea that Farquhar is taking in more of what is around him before death. His attention to detail and his appreciation of nature seems to heighten (if only in his imagination) in the few moments before his death. When I first read it, the uncanny revelation seemed to be like he was realizing all that he might have missed out on.

In this part of the story, I started to question things. It did seem rather unusual in both the book and the movie that Farquhar could successfully evade that many bullets. There is a sense of false hope, because even the reader knows that such a situation is not believable in real life.

This paragraph almost had me believing that it was all real. The author so delicately describes Farquhar’s physical state that it really fools the reader.The intensity of Farquhar’s imagination is really the backbone for the whole story. The believability of the scene comes from the fact that Bierce describes everything in Farquhar’s mind to extreme detail.

I think that he would rather be killed in the hanging than be shot because if he was shot, that would mean that he at least survived the hanging, and it would probably be a little embarrassing to dodge one of their attempts at killing him and get so close to escaping, yet die in their second attempt with guns.

Well put again, Jordan. We know he’s not dead yet, but he might (will) be soon. I also found it funny that he was complaining about being shot at. It seems silly.

This is yet another example of reflexive action. Before, the author was describing tunnel vision. Now, he’s instinctively trying to free himself as opposed to doing it consciously.

This paragraph is my favorite because I think everyone today takes life for granted. It’s beautifully written and it really makes the reader stop for a second and relate this newfound thankfulness to their own life.

It’s important here that the author uses very formal language in describing “accurately measured interval” and “coldly and pitilessly” because it goes back to what Lacy said about the unhman formality of the death, and how each of the people being hanged were just another one killed on the list, as if their lives were “accurately measured” and fell short.

It’s interesting that once again, this just adds to the distance that each soldier takes from the death, and how much of a routine it is….taking someone’s life is never “just a routine,” at least it should not be.

This wakening from his dream, in his dream, could be foreshadowing what is about to happen next.

No, these are without a doubt bullets. They flatten when they hit the water, because they were probably made out of lead which is a very malleable metal. Bullets would either “mushroom” or break up into fragments anyway when shot into water, regardless of the size or material of the bullet. Also, the metal was hot because it was just shot out of the barrel of a rifle. They aren’t spears.

It’s interesting that Peyton recognizes that this man has gray eyes and those are the keenest, because he also has gray eyes-his are “dark” though….

He has indeed become the animal. Replace the word “man” in the first line with any sort of animal (fox, deer, etc.) and the meaning of the paragraph won’t change. That’s creepy.

It’s interesting how up until this precise point, Farquhar has dodged all the bullets and has been optimistic and determined, yet now he is starting to lose hope. I can’t exactly pinpoint why at this exact time his hope begins to fade, and not before or after.

The diction that the author uses is also what makes this paragraph so exciting. The words like “pounced”, “tore”, “direst pang”, “engulfed” and “agony” are all extremes. It makes the reader feel the adrenaline rush that Peyton gets when he realizes that he has a second chance at life!

I kind of thought of the symbolism of “plunged into the forest” because from here on out, not only is he physically lost in the forest, but he is symbolically “in the forest” as well, because the forest is usually a place of tranquility and truth, yet if one is lost, it can be quite scary, and at this point, he is losing both his actually footing and his mind, because he is just running endlessly to get home and escape the enemy. He is throwing himself “into the jungle.”

I think the “black bodies of the trees formed a straight wall on both sides” is a metaphor for the war, in which neither side was completely just and innocent, therefore both were “black” (symbolic of lack of truth, something sinister) at some point, and both created a battle in which one had to make the difficult decision of choosing a side-one or the other, no in-betweens or maybes.

I think it’s important that once again, Bierce uses imagery to symbolize Farquhad’s journey-when he “reaches home,” everything is “bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine” meaning that all is beautiful and innocent (“wide white walk”) yet the last sentence of the paragraph ends with “then all is darkness and silence!” indicating the contrasting lack of innocence and ultimate death.

I love the way that Ambrose sets the scene in his dream as white and bright, using phrases like “bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine” and “his wife looking fresh and cool and sweet” and then shocks the reader with Peyton’s sudden sight of darkness. The light and dark references really amplifies the surprise in the last paragraph of the story.

I completely agree with you Christina. This paragraph of the story really struck me as the turning point for the passage. Up until this point I think he and the reader truly believe he can actually escape, however, now he really starts to doubt himself.

I agree, the ending of the story is shocking because throughout the whole 3rd part of the story, Bierce really has the readers thinking that Peyton has pulled off the impossible and actually escaped. However, with this last sentence the readers realize this isn’t the case and the story is left to a lot of interpretation.

i think dan made an interesting point — the description of peyton could very well also be a description of him already dead. i didn’t catch this the first time, but it really works.

I also think that the the uncanny revelation was an important point of this paragraph. i couldn’t really put my finger on it, but it just seems strange to use this description. It made me feel like he really discovered something of importance while trying to find his way through the wilderness.

The phrase “in a moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly round, himself the pivotal point” is not what I would think would be Peyton’s first reaction. This makes since since he was probably light headed after not getting oxygen for an excessive amount of time, but due to adrenaline I would think the world would be circling at a rapid rate!

I thought the line about “perhaps he has merely recovered from a delirium” is interesting because obviously this whole paragraph is very much a part of his ongoing delirium.

I think there should have been more action in here. It would have been stronger with more than words.

This part was confusing because i’m not sure if you really needed part II then. it also seems a bit morbid for the overall story.

He describes this pain with so much description, that it kind of scared me. Like, maybe it was close to home for the author or something.

The way that he talks to himself is interesting to me, encouraging himself like that. I don’t think many people talk like that to themselves.

Why do they call bullets “reports”? At least, i think that’s what it means.

I like how he used the contrast of the meaning of the word diminuendo and putting it in caps to make it noticeable.

I like how he describes the ground as diamonds and rubies, it makes him seem more desperate, and gives it a more urgent and dangerous sense.

I really like the use of the word “ramification” to describe the pain Farquhar felt radiating from his neck. Like the word “radiate” (which means to grow like the root of a plant), “ramification” means spreading out like the branches of a tree. It evokes an image of flames branching from a source, or the pain pulsing through ramification of Fuquhar’s arteries and veins. It’s extremely visual.

It doesn’t seem to be an actual turning point for the entire passage, just a reaction to a real threat. In fact, it seems Farquhar was spared by the lieutenant’s impractical order. After Fuquhar is finished worrying about the fire-at-will and the grapeshot, he practically has a straight shot home, and he does indeed make it home to his wife.

This is unrelated to the story, but I think it’s interesting to point out that logging is common these days in North America because the most recent war in which a significant amount of shrapnel was produced was the Civil War. In Europe, for example, logging is uncommon and very difficult because of the danger that shrapnel in trees from WWII and WWI poses to high-speed saws.

Oops, I meant to post that to the next paragraph.

The description of the symptoms of being hanged reminds me of the drum motif from the film that I referred to in class today. It may hint to the astute reader that Farquhar is being hanged in his real life, the way that real happenings can leak into our dreams (like a telephone ringing near a sleeping person can make him answer it in his dream, for example). However, the foreshadowing is easily disguised by the fact that Farquhar was delirious. Likewise, the drumming at the end of the film can be disguised by the fact that, by 1962, music was a common way to build up suspense in films.

I like the last sentence of this paragraph, “No; I will not be shot; that is not fair.” I think there is a certain amount of irony in this, because is it really fair for Peyton and his fellow plantation owners to enslave others against their will? Is it really fair to use corporal punishment against those slaves because they are performing badly (the cause of which is their horrible conditions and morale)? I think Peyton has a skewed perception of reality if he does not think this is fair.

My favorite part of this paragraph is the imagery of the noose being a snake in the water. A snake in water is quick, agile, and deadly. The imagery here is perfect for the context of the story and what the rope is being used for and what it represents. I could also stretch this and draw a contemporary parallel to the Jena incident a few months ago. A snake does not kill instantly, but instead over time with deadly venom, and the stigma attached to the noose is a venom that is poisoning our society and culture to this day, years after lynching died out.

I love this paragraph. It sets up everything as beautiful and ideal and perfect for Peyton’s return, then boom–darkness. I think that the reader, and not just Peyton, feels a jolt at the end of this paragraph.

I like the detached feeling of this paragraph and the lack of emotion. Is it really significant that this one man has died? By the sound of this paragraph, not really.

This is where I think the reader may realize that Peyton is daydreaming. Are the soldiers really going to spend this much time on a fairly insignificant person to their war effort? Sure, he tried to burn a bridge, but he did not succeed and he hasn’t done anything else to hurt the soldiers in any significant way. I just think Peyton is grossly overestimating his own importance, which is exactly what I would expect from a Southern plantation and slave owner.

This video clip has a number of interesting parts. The first I see is the opening of the huge gates to Farquhar’s place. These gates seem a little out of place and in the middle of the forest and exaggerated in size. Could these symbolize the gates of heaven/gates of hell?

One thing that sticks out in this video clip is Farquhar tripping and falling. I cannot find this in the text anywhere. I wonder why the filmmaker decided to include this in the film. Possibly it is a way to make the dream-vision even more believable by adding such a specific detail, especially one that exhibits flaw.

The most interesting device in this video clip is how it is slowed down. By slowing down the voices, the marksmen marching, and the low drumbeat, the viewer is filled with anticipation as the action rises and the first shot if fired. This accurately reproduces Bierce’s idea of the scene in “accurately measured interval[s].”

Is this film clip supposed to be completely silent? If it is, I think that it actually makes the viewer pay closer attention to detail since one of the five senses is not being used.

Another aspect of the video clip is how the filmmaker has chosen to fill the frame. At times, the frame is wide and you can see many faceless soldiers. At other times, the camera cuts and the frame is zoomed-in and filled with Farquhar’s face. This technique shows that the identity of the main character is important, while the identity of the soldiers are unimportant.

This video clip utilizes background music, which is hard to relate to a written story. It’s interesting how a filmmaker relies on auditory effects to create a tone, while an author relies on vivid, descriptive imagery.

In the film clip, it’s also interesting how the camera seems to slow down and wait for Farquhar after he falls. The camera had been backing up and zooming in on Farquhar up until that point, so when the camera stalls, it gives you a feeling of being in the scene yourself.

I also noticed the lack of any loud sounds/music. I think the filmmaker did this on purpose so that the audience would focus on the events. Also I think that this video clip does not portray well what the written story says, in that it does not show that Peyton “was not conscious of an effort,” that his hands were working by themselves and he felt detached from his body.

The music in this clip is very important and very appropriate because the singer sings about a living man and appreciating the smallest things more fully, which is how Peyton feels after he gets to the surface. The zooming in on different nature scenes parallels Bierce’s description of details that Peyton notices after his near-death experience.

I think that the lengthy underwater shots are used to create a sense of suspense. There are a few seconds where the screen is nearly all-black, briefly heightening the reader’s sense of confusion and creating a sort of mysterious aura.

Although the music is just a little bit creepy, this clip is my favorite of the movie. The visual and aural aspects come together seemlessly, and it’s probably the finest part of the film. It does sort of, as Daniel suggested, invite the viewer to appreciate aspects of his or her own life.

I know that voices that are slowed down sound deeper, but in this clip the voices of the soldiers almost sound demonic. There is a huge contrast with the previous clip, where there was soothing music and the sounds of nature. I also noticed the shot where the camera zooms in on the eye of (I am assuming) the marksman, probably to portray his gray eyes. However, I don’t think that the audience who watches this clip would notice that they were gray.

Along with the clip included above in paragraph three, this part of the film is one of the most noteworthy in the entire film. It wasn’t exactly how I imagined the “monotonous singsong” that Bierce describes in paragraph six, but I think the film’s version far better captures the text. Although most of the remainder of the film does this as well, this is one example of how the clip is done in “real time” to more accurately depict – perhaps even through Farquhar’s eyes – what is going on.

In this clip, everything is back in normal pace (in contrast to the last clip). This shows Peyton’s realization that he is in danger and that time won’t wait around for him. Also the ending shot where the camera is pointed upward at the trees and is spinning around is very interesting, although I can’t really figure out what the filmmaker was trying to portray. Any thoughts?

I think it helps a lot here to see Peyton crying right before he is hung, because it shows very clearly his agony. I also agree with Michael about the sense of suspense in the extended underwater scenes, because after a while, I found myself holding my breath (haha). That made it more real and understandable for me.

I agree with Zhenya here-I think that this does exemplify how Peyton views the world after his near-death experience. Not only from the song, but you can tell in his face, his happy and relieved expression, that he feels as though he’s seeing the world for the first time, and it is beautiful and amazing.

I think that the reason the camera spins around looking at the trees above is to sort of symbolize Peyton’s world-his head is spinning, he’s tired and trying to escape, and at the end, it finally slows down and settles on a pretty picture of a bright light coming through the trees, probably to represent his final tranquility and the peacefulness that is coming when he “reunites with his wife.”

This producer really doe not like music! I understand that he probably wanted the audience to focus on Farquhar and just listen to the bubbles, but i really think that some other sounds would greatly benefit the scene. I like how the camera pans from the surface to him. This shows what he sees when he looks up and also him and his expressions of agony. The actors expressions are great and really bring the viewers into the film as if they were there in the water with him. I guess if they were in the water with him, there wouldnt be any sounds other than bubbles, so it is accurate, but not very pleasing for the audience to listen to.

I think that this clip gives great insight into how Peyton probably felt at that moment. Sometimes when people look back on a scary moment in their lives, they realize that while it was happening, it all felt like a dream going in slow motion. I think that’s what Peyton is feeling right now, and that’s why everything is slowed down.

I really hate the music. It’s so distracting! The camera dude gets a little carried away with showing all the leaves and insects if you ask me. I do understand the point that they are trying to make though. They are trying to show Farquhar’s new found appreciation for all life and ground since he just had his near-death experience. I would be happy to see a bug too, if I had almost died!

The view from underwater to the sub on the surface provides the viewer with the anticipation Peyton feels. The awkwardness of no music is not fun for the viewer but also keeps you waiting and let’s the mind make the soundtrack with “OH MY GOSH HOW IS HE GOING TO GET OUT HE HAS TO GET OUT”, which is probably more effective than any quick-paced song could be.

I love the drums in the background, because it seems to be a combination of his heartbeat, thumping madly because of the pursuit, and a military cadence, like the trumpet at the beginning. It mixes the two sides together.

The unsteadiness of the camera in this scene is effective, because it’s not smooth and fluid like it usually is, but is moving slightly up and down, like your surroundings do as you run. Definitely puts you in his place, while still watching him.

I love the slowed down, demonic sounding voice of the commander, because with the knowledge that he is ordering your death, and the mental overload of spending an extended amount of time underwater, that’s most likely how it would sound.

You can really see the agony he is going through trying to struggle out of his restraints. It’s also very ominous with the whole scene being in the water and the only sounds of the water moving. It fits with the story though, because the author never mentions what is happening above the water, and the audience never sees what happens either.

This music, although a little annoying to me, shows that the realization of what has just happened. Peyton sees that he has escaped death and notices all the small things around him. The music is also adds to the scene because the singer is singing about a living man.

I like how the slow motion of the soldiers contrasts to how fast the situation probably went in real life. However, all of this seemed to be from Peyton’s point of view, especially when it was a close up on is eye.

I like how the camera distances change once the cannon is shot (which is shown from far away). The drums sound so sporatic and spazzy that it makes the audience tense, and helps the mood of the scene. You can really feel how anxious Peyton is to get away.

I disagree. I feel that the music really takes away from the clip. The rest of the movie makes the viewer feel as if he is alone with Farquhar; this clip brings in an outside party, a singer, to express Farquhar’s emotions. I feel that the clip would have achieved the same effect – or possibly a greater one – without the use of the music.

This was my favorite clip of the movie. It combines both the distorted sense of time and Farquhar’s heightened perception. I wonder what this part of the dream translates to in reality – does it coincide with a point in the hanging, which creates this slowed-down sense of time? The silhouettes and slow movements by the actors really promoted this effect.

This clip was the one that least related to the story, in my opinion. The movie had a lot more emphasis on his escape and less on his emotions. The director probably had to do this because it is much harder to display emotions in a movie whereas an author can just describe them. Still, I feel that the movie over-emphasizes his escape.

The camera choice in this clip is interesting. As Dan and Rachel have pointed out, the trip is the most noteworthy part of this clip. How the cameraman started by zooming in and slowly zooming out – rather than running with Farquhar – added to the “escaping” sense. The drums could represent either his footsteps or those of his pursuers. Without the drums, the clip would be much different.

This clip is very interesting. I believe Farquhar’s arm-extensions are in fact the same event, and are shown repeatedly in order to emphasize the slow passing of time. In the story, the woman never touches him; she does in the clip. In the movie, her hands may symbolize the hands of death, as when her hands reach his neck he dies.

I wonder if the sound in the scene is from the women’s perspective because you can only hear Peyton’s heavy breathing when he nears the women. This would not apply to the sounds that occurs in the scene of his actual death because she is not present. Does anyone else have any ideas?

I agree that the focusing in on nature in this scene is the most important part in this scene. It shows that he now sees life in a new light, which is represented by the amount of light on the objects in nature. The camera focusing I also think represents this idea because each objects goes from blurry to sharply clear. This also gives it a dream like quality…. which could foreshadow that it is.

The camera man in this section uses a “cut” technique in this section. It goes from Peyton’s point of view to an observer point of view. This heightens the intensity of the scene as he is trying to escape.

I think it is ironic how the music in this section cuts out with “Living Man” because this section of the film is while Peyton is in the dream so he is not really going to be a living man.

I really liked the pull-back technique that the camera uses as well because it calls our attention to the setting. It also creates a great transition from the tranquility of peace he feels once he gets a ways down the river and him beginning to run. It made the shot really smooth .

The sound in this scene could be from the woman’s perspective, but the music that plays when the camera is cutting through the vegetation to show the woman makes me think it is from Farquhar’s perspective, since at least to me, it seems like he is happier to see her than she is to see him. He is running full speed to try to get to her and she is just kind of walking slowly towards him. This could be done to show that time is running out for Farquhar, but still I thought it was kind of odd that the woman was so calm and slow in her movements while Farquhar was so frantic.

I agree that the drums definitely add something to this clip. Just as the camera angle contributes to the sense of escape, I think the drums add to this sense, as well. They increase the overall intensity of the clip and make the viewer more anxious to see what Farquhar’s fate will be.

I like how Jordan brought up the words “awkward’ and “not fun” when describing the viewer’s experience because of the lack of music. I think this is precisely why the director chose not to include music in this part of the movie, because trying to untie yourself under water IS not fun and awkward. I think any music would be out of place in this type of scene. The silence makes viewers uneasy, but that is how we should feel because we don’t know whether or not this man is going to live, and that is reason enough to feel uneasy.

I did not particularly like how drawn out the officer’s voice was in this clip. In my opinion it was a little overdramatic. Perhaps it was to indicate the distance between Peyton and the commanding officer, however the fact that Peyton is still able to look clearly into the officer’s gray eyes makes me feel that he is not as far away as the voice sounds. Despite the drawn out dialogue, I do think that this clip works well for this part of the story.

One part that stood out to me was when the camera was focused on Farquhar treading water and then it rapidly zooms in on his face, then switches to the marksman and zooms in at the same pace on him. Usually cameras have very smooth motions, slowly zooming in and out so that the viewers don’t really notice unless they are really analyzing film techniques. I think the director chose to do this to emphasize the fact that this is not a time to be calm and that it is a time of imminent danger.

At the beginning of this clip, when the camera shows the land through Farquhar’s perspective, I noticed that it seems as though Farquhar is swimming impossibly fast. It looks more like the camera is from the perspective of somebody on a boat than somebody swimming. I imagine the director did this to show that in Farquhar’s dream he would be able to swim that quickly to escape.

This scene is a nice switch from the action of Peyton’s escape, and it is probably my favorite clip of the whole film. I think that the music along with zoomed-in images of nature in a sense create a “music video” for Peyton’s emotions and senses. I don’t know who composed this song, and I highly doubt it is written specifically for this film, but it is interesting that the director was able to find a song to fit so well with the context of the text. Finally, I like this clip because it has a personal affect: it makes me more appreciative of the small things.

Having already read the text before viewing the film, this clip sort of acted as a “fake out” for me. When Peyton trips, I anticipated him hanging, because the trip is not mentioned anywhere in the text. Also, the drums mirror the drums in part I leading up to Peyton being hanged, which ehanced this “fake out,” but also serve as foreshadowing to his fate. Also, I agree that the camera angles build the intensity of the scene and leave you in suspense for what will happen next. The trip is sort of anticipated by this method, because the zooming in and out highlight his staggered running, however the trip is still unexpected because it is not mentioned in the text.

At the begginning of the clip, we can really see Peyton’s expression of worry and fear and even a little pain. I don’t think these expressions can be matched in the written version because actually seeing his face gives away so much.

In this clip of the movie, I think you get a better sense of his physical pain than you do in the story. In the story I feel like there is more attention put on his emotional and mental pain, but this clip helps to visualize the intensity of Farquhar’s physical struggle against nature and the Union army.

This clip does a great job of depicting what the author describes in the written version. We really get a sense of what is going on in Peyton’s mind throug the camera angles and music, which seem to slow everything down and take in everything that is surrounding Peyton.

I think in the story and in the movie, this is the most beautiful scene. It requires a great amount of skill in both writing and filmmaking to depict how a man must look at the world after a near death experience. However, it really makes me sad in knowing that he isn’t even experiencing this at all. It kind of makes you think this is how Farquhar may have seen things had he survived his hanging for real.

I don’t really understand the voice at the begginning of the clip. The slowness and deepness of it doesn’t really seem to fit. I understand it is supposed to be what Peyton is hearing, but the effect of it doesn’t seem to come through.

I wonder if the poor vocal quality isn’t due more to the age and production of the film. It is quite difficult to understand and I am confused as to whether or not that is intentional. The zoom in on Farquhar’s face is really effective in giving the viewer a quick, panicky feeling as well.

The camera angles were incredible in depicting the situation. I especially liked the end where the camera whirled in circles to give Peyton’s point of view of beng swallowed in teh whirlpool.

I agree with Rachel, the director did a great job of using the background music to depict Peyton’s feelings and thoughts that would otherwise be very difficult to convey with out using dialouge. In many other parts of the film, we miss out on the depth of Peyton’s thoughts and feelings because there is no narrator to describe them.

I agree with all of you, once again the camera angles, along with the drums, are used effectively to give off the urgency of the situation as Peyton is running away. They make Peyton seem to be running faster than he actually is.

I agree with Kaitlin that this could easily be a rewritten ending to the story, if the trip actually represented Farquhar’s hanging. The way all of the background noise just stops is important also. This being one of the few times the filmmaker strays from the storyline, it seems that there should be some greater significance. I wonder if it isn’t a technique to break up the long running sequence. Maybe it was just a move made so that the people in the audience would gasp.

Just like in the last clip, the camera angles and drum emphasize the urgency and mood of the situation. I think the significance of the trip is that it is the end of the dream. Everything seems to be working out for Peyton up till this point; he narrowly escapes all the previous situations such as by dodging bullets or running away at the perfect time. But the trip is a very abrupt and sudden end to everything that had preceeded it, as Peyton comes to a sudden realization that everything he has been dreaming is just that, nothing more than a dream.

In this scene the drums stop. I think this could be encouraging the viewer to believe that Farquhar is safe at home and has escaped death–which is of course not true. It’s important for Farquhar’s death to be a shock, and this scene works hard to accomplish that.

I agree that an important question about this clip is “why does Farquhar trip?”

I think it’s most likely there to add an element of realism to his fantasy. He has imagined his escape in such detail that it includes an accidental trip over a root in the woods.

It is interesting to contrast the way these two mediums portray death. There are so many details that the film can’t possibly portray, but there is also such emotion conveyed through the visual image of a man hanging. It’s really great to be able to compare and contrast these two interpretations in such detail. I know it has definetly given me a better understanding of the story!

The underwater scene is brilliant. It shows a momentous struggle for Peyton to free himself before he gets shot, and the fact that it’s all underwater just adds more suspense to it. We know that, yes, he could get shot, but he could also drown. That just adds a new layer to the scene.

This is also a brilliant scene, because this is where it shows Peyton appreciating nature and everything that surrounds him. I thought it would be difficult to portray that in the film, but he did a great job of getting the point across that Peyton truly appreciates his mortality now.

This is also a brilliant scene, because this is where it shows Peyton appreciating nature and everything that surrounds him. I thought it would be difficult to portray that in the film, but he did a great job of getting the point across that Peyton truly appreciates his mortality now.

This is a funny scene. But that’s what helps get the point across. Peyton is just so elated that he is alive that it almost drives him completely crazy. I agree, we definitely know what Peyton is feeling at the moment.

Yeah, I agree with the way he used the trees to make Peyton seem faster. It also adds to the urgency of the scene, and underscores the fact that this man is truly running for his life. The drums and the explosions also add a lot to this, making it even more dramatic. It’s a very heart-pounding scene.

This scene makes me queasy because I put myself in the victim’s position right before he is hanged. How hopeless he must feel!

The song in the background makes me laugh because it’s kind of silly, but besides that, I like how the director makes the audience as happy to see trees and leaves and bugs as Peyton is.

I like the trip because it makes the audience even more surprised to find out it was all a dream…who would ever dream of tripping over a rock while running to their wife after surviving a hanging??

[...] this example by The Institute for the Future of the Book, Ambrose Bierce’s short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, presented with digital video clips interspersed with the story’s text and student [...]

The scene in the movie helps to show Peyton’s expression right before he falls, unlike the text where this is hard to discern. Also, once he is in the water the movie leads you on somewhat that all is still lost, and the camera shows the light above then sinks into the darkness where there is a black pause. However, when Peyton’s face is seen again after this “black pause,” he can see and escapes his restraints.

I like this clip and how it portrays the scene. Before the fall, Peyton was experiencing a heightened sense of things, and now after cheating death somehow, he sees the world in in it’s purest state each detail seems new to him.

This clip portrays the scene perfectly with its use of music and images. Before falling, Peyton was experiencing a kinda of heightened sense of things, and now after cheating death he sees each deatail a wonderful event of life.

This scene really makes me laugh. Whenever I watch it I imagine the editors learning how to slow things down and then just having fun with the “new” special effect.

I like the song repitition here because it draws a parallel to when he cheated death before, and now, after escaping the bullets he seems to have cheated death again.

darn…i didn’t mean to put that there.

I like the song repitition here because it draws a parallel to when he cheated death before, and now, after escaping the bullets he seems to have cheated death again. Also, the “fit of joy” (i guess that’s what it is) is hilarious.

This scene begins to build up the intensity for when he is finally "reunited" with his wife. The sound in the clip help the viewer to understand this because of the high tempo drums. On the other hand, it can be hard to comprehend the intensity of a certain text (reading faster does not always help either).

Roseate means “having a dusty purplish pink color”. What a great word, and it contributes to the vividness of Farquhar’s imagination.

I love the way Farquhar doesn’t recognize the constellations, and also the alliteration of “shone great golden stars”. It adds to the dreamlike quality of this section… most stars in the sky look white, not golden.

“He had no wish to perfect his escape–he was content to remain in that enchanting spot until retaken.”

This, of course, is what Farquhar is actually doing–just falling, idling, waiting to reach the end of the rope and die.

Why is this paragraph the only mention of Farquhar’s children? Perhaps he might have met them after seeing his wife, if he had had more time.

The creaking sound of the ropes binding Farquhar’s hands before he falls from the bridge is very creepy. Unlike the ticking watch, which seems to be something only Farquhar can hear, the creaking ropes must have been heard by the Union men as well–I wonder how it made them feel.

i love the ‘serenity’ of this scene & i think it does a really good job of showing the detail bierce includes in the text. once again, the movie does an excellent job of portraying the story… i think this would be my favorite scene in the movie if it wasn’t for the ridiculous song playing in the background.

this scene makes me very anxious/nervous.. just the whole idea of struggling to “untie” himself while underwater for that long freaks me out. i definitely agree with lacy — this scene does show a lot of the physical pain the reader/viewer doesn’t see as much in the rest of the story.

i still have to disagree and say that i don’t like the song. although i do think it works a little better here than before, i still can’t get past it for some reason.. i just don’t think it works.

agreed. this scene in the movie does an excellent job of producing the shock and surprise the reader feels in the story. it is obviously a very important element to bierce’s text, and the movie delivers it well.

I think the same thing. I think the song is just completely wrong for the video as well as the story. I just don’t think the song fits the time period of the story, and it’s just sort of strange sounding.

I also think the lack of songs and talking really add to this video. I mean the only sounds are the struggle underwater, the creaking of the ropes tied around his wrists and the sound of the platform as he falls. The lack of sound and the presence of such realistic sounds is quite unsettling.

I think that this video is such a stark contrast to the previous videos. Unlike the others, this one utilizes music and more upbeat images. I think it’s really interesting how the two seem to work so well in the same movie.