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An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis

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What happens in the moments just before imminent death? Does one see their life flash before their eyes? Some things in life are just unexplainable and really we will never know until that moment is upon us. We can speculate through stories and movies what actually goes on just before the end; that we will have a white light appearing before us waiting to take us to the great beyond, or we will have this gruesome coldness take us. In the stories An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Bullet to the Brain, the authors illustrate and embellish what death is and what precedes it. I will show how these stories are similar and different; Depending on what path is taken reflects how we will remember the fallen deceased. The peace that a split second can bring cannot be measured; it will last forever to the …show more content…
In the moment of his demise Anders relives a joyous memory; a memory that is extremely peaceful. In Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge; Peyton, the main character is set to hang, in the moment before death, he creates this alter reality to go to “Ah, how beautiful she is! He springs forward with extended arms. As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon--then all is darkness and silence! Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge.” (Bierce 295) This reality is Peyton escapes from his captors. It is a very joyous memory, and one that allows him peace. Both stories involve the main characters dying due to a character flaw. In bullet in the brain

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