Thinking Question
What examples of foreshadowing do you see in Bierce’s writing in this story? Do they make the knots of the story tie together in the end?
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,
I do think all the foreshadowing almost clarifies things at the end of the story and draws it to a conclusion.
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't see a lot of foreshadowing per se. I can find a lot of clues that allude to the real ending and that brings the loose ends of the story together, but I struggle to find pure examples of foreshadowing.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of the clues as a type of foreshadowing, but I guess they are different things.
DeleteAt the time I was reading the book, I didn't see this as clue to the ending. However, after reading the book, I think the conversation between the Scout and Peyton was suppose to give us a hint of the ending. Not only was it suppose to tell us that Peyton was going to to sabotage the bridge, but I think it was also meant to tell us that Peyton will be hanged.
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