An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Setting Analysis
The Significance of Setting within A Worn Path and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
The settings within A Worn Path and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge are both quite significant to their stories. The two share a great number of similar and contrasting elements, which makes them very unique. Each are set within time periods which makes life particularly difficult for their main characters, and their physical surroundings impose many obstacles upon them. However, the differences between the two strongly outweigh the similarities.
A Worn Path is set in December, sometime between the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. The majority of the story takes place within woods along the Natchez Trace. Old Phoenix Jackson braves the frozen grounds of the …show more content…
The main character, Peyton Farquhar, is set to be hanged for interfering with the railroads used by the North. Unlike the very real and tangible setting of A Worn Path, almost the entirety of the setting within An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is an illusion. Though the time period and physical surroundings are real, Peyton’s interactions with them are not. At first, the reader believe that Peyton has escaped. He falls into the water beneath the bridge and begins to fight his surroundings to survive. As he reaches the surface for air, he is met with shouts of orders being thrown his way. Soon enough, bullets and cannons begin to go off, as he rights to free himself and return to his family. The setting of this story immerses the reader in the action. They can feel Peyton’s struggle and his will to live. As he fights off the water, the sand, the rope, and the bullets, the reader is truly rooting for him to win. However, at the end they learn it was all simply an illusion. He never fell into the water, and he actually died on the bridge. This is extremely upsetting, but also confusing when it comes time to argue about the setting. The setting was not real, the events didn’t actually occur, it was all of figment of Peyton’s dying
The settings within A Worn Path and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge are both quite significant to their stories. The two share a great number of similar and contrasting elements, which makes them very unique. Each are set within time periods which makes life particularly difficult for their main characters, and their physical surroundings impose many obstacles upon them. However, the differences between the two strongly outweigh the similarities.
A Worn Path is set in December, sometime between the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. The majority of the story takes place within woods along the Natchez Trace. Old Phoenix Jackson braves the frozen grounds of the …show more content…
The main character, Peyton Farquhar, is set to be hanged for interfering with the railroads used by the North. Unlike the very real and tangible setting of A Worn Path, almost the entirety of the setting within An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is an illusion. Though the time period and physical surroundings are real, Peyton’s interactions with them are not. At first, the reader believe that Peyton has escaped. He falls into the water beneath the bridge and begins to fight his surroundings to survive. As he reaches the surface for air, he is met with shouts of orders being thrown his way. Soon enough, bullets and cannons begin to go off, as he rights to free himself and return to his family. The setting of this story immerses the reader in the action. They can feel Peyton’s struggle and his will to live. As he fights off the water, the sand, the rope, and the bullets, the reader is truly rooting for him to win. However, at the end they learn it was all simply an illusion. He never fell into the water, and he actually died on the bridge. This is extremely upsetting, but also confusing when it comes time to argue about the setting. The setting was not real, the events didn’t actually occur, it was all of figment of Peyton’s dying