What do you think might have inspired the author to write this short story?
"He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in the awful disturbance of his organic system had so exalted and refined them that they made record of things never before perceived. He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf—he saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies, the gray spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon-flies’ wings, the strokes of the water spiders’ legs, like oars which had lifted their boat—all these made audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the rush of its body parting the water" (Chapter 3) I thi
Good question, I am very stumbled myself. Did the author want to reveal how brutal the union army was? Or did he want to show us how easy it is to get tricked? I am very confused.
ReplyDeleteCould Bierce's life be the inspiration? I don't remember if I asked this group, but did anyone do research on Bierce?
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely possible. From what I've read, Bierce was a young man during the Civil War, and fought in several battles as part of the Union Army.
DeleteLike I said on Abby's blog I think the author really wanted to show how much we overlook because we don't want to see it. at least for me I wanted Fahrquhar to escape so I overlooked the obvious hints that it was all a dream.
ReplyDeleteThat's what happened with me. I didn't want to see any possibility of Peyton dying. He had a family!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOne idea that I keep encountering in relation to war and conflict is that there are always good people on both sides. Even if most of the people would not be called "good" exactly, every side in a conflict will always be made up of people. People who are passionate, who believe wholeheartedly that their values and beliefs are the "right" ones.
ReplyDeleteI think part of Bierce's inspiration to write An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is to illustrate this point. The only character who is named is Peyton Farquhar, a southerner who we are initially not supposed to like. Over the course of the story, we slowly begin to sympathize with Peyton, wanting him to escape back to his family even though he is the "bad guy" in this scenario. From what we learn in our American history books, the South was made up of bad people, but I think Bierce wanted to demonstrate that this was not at all true. So he introduced us to Farquhar, a southern plantation owner who adores his family and wants to do his patriotic duty, just like many in the Union.
Anyway, that's my opinion, but I would love to hear what y'all think.