Compare and Contrast of Two Stories.
Efrain Rincon Jr
Professor Yuhas
English - 6
6 May, 2013
‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ and ‘The Red Convertible’ ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ by Ambrose Bierce and ‘The Red Convertible’ by Louise Erdrich both recount sorrowful tales of men during times of war. The stories differ in that ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ is a story written in reverse, where the readers do not truly know the plot until the end- whereas ‘The Red Convertible’ is just a man recounting the story of his long lost brother. However despite their differences, both of the stories continue to build up hope in the reader only to find nothing but a sorrowful story at the end.
‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ by Ambrose Bierce was a short story written in 1890s that revolves around a confederate supporter during the Civil War. Peyton Farqhuar is a man living in the south who proudly displays his support for the confederacy and the cause of the South.
Farqhuar was captured by Union soldiers for his display of Southern pride. He is unfairly, and barely, tried, before being sentenced to be hung. His punishment was to be carried out at the Owl Street bridge, where the reader is thrust into the thoughts of Farqhar. At the end of the first section of the story, Bierce uses this quote to illustrate the foreshadowing of the doom to come: “As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were flashed into the doomed man’s brain rather than evolved from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside.”
When Farqhuar was hung from Owl Creek Bridge, the reader is carried through his journey of escaping the soldiers after the rope snaps. Bierce surprises readers at the end when Farqhuar, who thinks he has escaped capture by the Union army, is running towards his wife and everything fades to black, although again, the ending was foreshadowed when, before Farqhuar fell to his death, Bierce called him a “vast pendulum”--swinging back and forth on his rope of death.
Professor Yuhas
English - 6
6 May, 2013
‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ and ‘The Red Convertible’ ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ by Ambrose Bierce and ‘The Red Convertible’ by Louise Erdrich both recount sorrowful tales of men during times of war. The stories differ in that ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ is a story written in reverse, where the readers do not truly know the plot until the end- whereas ‘The Red Convertible’ is just a man recounting the story of his long lost brother. However despite their differences, both of the stories continue to build up hope in the reader only to find nothing but a sorrowful story at the end.
‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ by Ambrose Bierce was a short story written in 1890s that revolves around a confederate supporter during the Civil War. Peyton Farqhuar is a man living in the south who proudly displays his support for the confederacy and the cause of the South.
Farqhuar was captured by Union soldiers for his display of Southern pride. He is unfairly, and barely, tried, before being sentenced to be hung. His punishment was to be carried out at the Owl Street bridge, where the reader is thrust into the thoughts of Farqhar. At the end of the first section of the story, Bierce uses this quote to illustrate the foreshadowing of the doom to come: “As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were flashed into the doomed man’s brain rather than evolved from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside.”
When Farqhuar was hung from Owl Creek Bridge, the reader is carried through his journey of escaping the soldiers after the rope snaps. Bierce surprises readers at the end when Farqhuar, who thinks he has escaped capture by the Union army, is running towards his wife and everything fades to black, although again, the ending was foreshadowed when, before Farqhuar fell to his death, Bierce called him a “vast pendulum”--swinging back and forth on his rope of death.