Creepy Comments #1
“Suppose a man—a civilian and student of hanging—should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel,” said Fahrquhar, smiling, “what could he accomplish?”
The soldier re ected. “I was there a month ago,” he replied. “I observed that the ood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. It is now dry and would burn like tow.”
- “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ( Chapter II)
After finishing the story, I came back to look at this passage for clues as I found it interesting. It begins with Fahrquhar questioning the solider in gray about what a civilian could do in order to cause a disturbance to the yanks. The soldier answers Fahrquhar very plainly, and seems to choose the information he lets him in on carefully, maybe the soldier did this purposely?
The soldier tells Fahrquhar that if someone were to tamper with anything to do with the Yank’s railroad, bridges, tunnels, or trains, then that person would be hanged. He specifically mentions a pile of driftwood that would “burn like tow,” almost giving Fahrquhar a sort of hint. The way that Fahrquhar asks about what a civilian could do to anger the Yanks, is highly suspicious and is most likely a foreshadowing of the reason his hanging occurred. I found this passage interesting because it gives you the idea that Fahrquhar did in fact tamper with the drift wood and was caught and therefor hanged.
I get the exact same impression. While it's not mentioned that Peyton does actually attempt to sabotage the bridge, there is the foreshadowing and the results, which combined allude to the idea that Peyton did attempt the sabotage, but failed and was caught by the Union soldiers. I also noticed that Peyton calls himself a "student of hanging." Considering he was a slave owner it's likely he hanged more than a few innocent men, so I find it ironic that he himself ended up being hung.
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting. I didn't catch the "student of hanging." part when I first read it but it does suggest that he has participated in other hangings in the past.
DeleteNice insight, you tow. So what do you think would motivate the Federal Scout to "bate" Peyton & why do you think Peyton took the bate?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the story, it definitely foreshadowed Peyton's fail attempt to sabotage and the consequences. I think the Federal Scout was trying to eliminate some of the more dedicated southern, so that they won't end up fighting in the military. We can clearly see that the Federal Scout's intentions of tempting Peyton. I also wondered if the Scout noticed Peyton's intention and that's why he traveled past by the farm again.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely does seem like the scout is trying to eliminate the more radical southerners. Any man that would be willing to actually go and sabotage would be considered a threat to the Union. Meanwhile anyone that would sit back and do nothing with the same information that Peyton was given wouldn't be considered a threat to the Union.
DeleteHowever, Peyton, in his eagerness, took the bate maybe without even realizing what the scout was doing or he just truly believed he could pull it off. Either way he got caught and I'm sure that is what the Scout planned for.
ReplyDeleteI was think about the scout's actions today. Do you guys think that the scout told the men guarding at the bridge that there will be a possibility that someone will attempt to sabotage the bridge?
ReplyDeleteI think you are on the right track, here Isaac. I think Farquhar must have been caught in the act by soldiers who were on the lookout for a saboteur.
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