An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge (some question?) [Archive]

luis_naqi

06-05-2009, 03:31 PM

Hey guys,

Just read this fiction story by Ambrose and couldn't find the answers of these questions for my quiz, can i get some help?

1- Why do you think Bierce uses the word "spectators" ?

2- What irony do you find in the phrase "the liberal military code" ?

3- If the stream is "racing madly", why might it seem "sluggish" to the victim?

4- Peyton longed for "the larger life of the soldier". In what way is this ironic?

5- Part II comes as a flashback. Why do you think Bierce opens with the execution in Part I and then inserts the flashback?

6- What significance do you find in the phrase, "was as one already dead" ?

7- "He was now in full possession......". In this paragraph, Peyton's sense "made record of things never before perceived". How would you explain this sharpening of his physical senses?

8- In paragraph beginning "Suddenly he heard......", which detail emphasizes the way in which Peyton's senses have become miraculously sharper?

- You can find the story right here :) :
http://fiction.eserver.org/short/occurrence_at_owl_creek.html

Thanks in advance :)

mono

06-06-2009, 04:42 AM

So, we meet again, luis_naqi. ;)
This sounds like one Inferno of a class you have enrolled in - Dickinson and Bierce, eh? Good stuff! :thumbs_up
FYI, it really, really helps if you type out the context of your quotes, but the "Find" feature of Internet Explorer definitely helped, too.

1- Why do you think Bierce uses the word "spectators" ?
In the times of Ambrose Bierce, as well as centuries before him, someone getting hanged for a convicted crime seemed a lot like, to put it bluntly, a public event, so many spectators often attended a hanging.

2- What irony do you find in the phrase "the liberal military code" ?
Bierce proves renowned for his sarcasm and wit; if you ever read The Devil's Dictionary, you will see it a bit more bluntly. By calling a "military code" liberal seems an ironic clause in itself, as, putting aside my own views, the rules, protocols, and such set by the military seem far from liberal - instead strict, unyielding, and discipline. By reading the entire sentence ("The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded."), one could wonder how a "military code" could liberally create any provisions, let alone one for executing gentlemen.

3- If the stream is "racing madly", why might it seem "sluggish" to the victim?
One seeing his impending doom seems bound to faulty sense. Even from a lucid perspective, one can see a white-water river pushing up against a boulder and it will appear violent, but when seeing a raft full of people floating along that river, the raft does not appear to flow as swiftly as the water does against the boulder.

4- Peyton longed for "the larger life of the soldier". In what way is this ironic?
Peyton desired to live "the larger life of the soldier," as a Confederate supporter, sort of a sub-soldier. He felt passionately about the Confederate movement, and, provided with physical ability, he feels that, with his drive and motivation, he would have made a "larger-than-life" soldier.

5- Part II comes as a flashback. Why do you think Bierce opens with the execution in Part I and then inserts the flashback?
Bierce did very well at capturing attention and quickly. Part I exists as the terrifying present moment, I think to place a firm grip on the attention of the reader, and Part II as how Peyton got there, a brief background, especially that it involved his Confederate beliefs - the Union soldiers out-smarted him and caught him red-handed, so to speak, which led to his conviction and sentence to execution.

6- What significance do you find in the phrase, "was as one already dead" ?
Just a guess, but it sounds like a simile, much like saying “he’s as good as dead.” Peyton, according to Part III, dropped through the platform, but lost consciousness somewhere in the process, perhaps a state similar to losing one’s life.

7- "He was now in full possession......". In this paragraph, Peyton's sense "made record of things never before perceived". How would you explain this sharpening of his physical senses?
Peyton feels many different senses in the preceding paragraphs of Part III, a lot like a buffer, like a “last chance at survival” impulse thought; he details the senses of touch (the rope around his wrists), sight (the gleam of light above the water), hearing (gunshots in the distance), all but smell and taste. Some have interpreted that these proceeding paragraphs in Part III identify, not only a fantasy, but also a "life flashing before one's eyes" - the things one theoretically perceives before death; everything appears surreal as they exist, but heightened, hence "he was now in full possession" of his own freedom according to every definition.

8- In paragraph beginning "Suddenly he heard......", which detail emphasizes the way in which Peyton's senses have become miraculously sharper?
Definitely when "the man in the water" identifies the keen, gray eyes of the sentinel sharpshooter firing at him with his rifle. At such a distance, even in an average distance between a bridge and the water beneath it, a viewer could likely not observe the color of an individual's eye; this appears one of the many instances that Peyton's senses seem more acute.