An Occurrence At Owl Creek Analysis

"An Occurrence At Owl Creek," written by Ambrose Bierce, is an interesting story that clearly depicts realism. This story presents factual information in a captivating way; it is not simply stating the facts, although those facts are very straightforward in their method of being presented. The way the story is told also represents realism. At the very beginning of the short story, as readers are informed that there is a man about to be hung, instead of informing the readers immediately about the presented situation or the emotions of the man being hung, readers are told of the details of the scenery (Bierce). The object from which he was about to be hung from was described, as was the surrounding objects. This is considered a factor of realism because it is not over exaggerating the situation or focusing solely on the emotions of the man; instead, it is simply giving observations of the scenery so that the reader knows it precisely. As opposed to other writings styles that deal greatly with the emotions of the main character, such as the Romanticism style of writing, realism does not deal with those factors quite as much. This is shown specifically in this short story. The thoughts and feelings of the main character really do not even come into play until the sixth paragraph or so, and for a short story this is a pretty substantial amount (Bierce). However, when the author does begin focusing on the emotions of him, they do become a part of the story. Again, though, they are not overdramatized and drawn out; they instead of more factual as to the emotions of one who actually is experiencing the situation. Another thing I noticed about the story that pertains to realism is that there are not really mentions of God. It may not be necessarily because God does not exist to them; instead I believe it is just because He is not a central focus in their lives. In writings styles such as those of the Puritans, God is all that they know, and their writings focus strongly on their beliefs. Realists, however, see things the way they are presented; they see the more factual side of the picture. God not being mentioned shows that even if He is present in their lives, it is not an important factor. Yet another factor in the story that relates to realism is the psychological aspect. In the time period in which realism began, scientist were becoming more knowledgeable, and psychological breakthroughs were occurring. The story ends with an interesting twist in which it seems that the entire events were just imagined; this analysis of the human mind is definitely a characteristic of realism.

Abby Werlock describes the ending of the story in a very interesting way. She says that the twist, when readers find out that he imagined the whole situation in which he saves himself, is actually a very common reality (Werlock). I definitely have to agree with her. I think that when people are in stressful situations, they imagine a perfect plan that ends with an ideal outcome. I think we do this to protect ourselves; we cannot handle the situation on our hands, so we imagine a better one in which we can actually control the outcome. When reading the analysis by Werlock, I really identified with it and it made a lot of sense that Fahrquhar, having no other hope, just imagined a situation that momentarily satisfied him and took his mind away from the true situation at hand.

WORKS CITED

Bierce, Ambrose. "Fiction: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Fiction: Welcome to The EServer's Fiction Collection. Web. 17 Jan. 2011.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "'Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS629&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 17, 2011).