Thinking Question

One thing that really confused me in this short story was the whole dream sequence, hallucination, mindscape, what have you, which Farquhar "lived through" in the moments between the board falling away and his neck breaking. The whole sequence of events within the "dream" followed seamlessly from the story's earlier events, so much so that it gave very little indication that anything was out of place. From all indication, Farquhar seemed to think the events within his dream were really happening, yet by the end of the story it is obvious that they were fabrications of his own mind.

The whole thing reminds me of the idea of your life flashing before your eyes, except in this case instead of seeing his past, Farquhar was envisioning a possible future, one where he could escape and return to his family rather than dangle from a bridge with a broken neck. 

What do you think happened in Peyton's "dream"? Was he dreaming, or experiencing something else entirely? Why do you think the author chose to include the dream sequence, rather than leaving out the majority of the third chapter and skipping to Peyton's death? Do you think it made Peyton a more likeable or relatable character? Why?

Comments

  1. Brooke B.November 2, 2020 at 7:29 AM

    Wow, this raised so many questions in my mind. I definitely felt really bad for Peyton more so because he died in his dream right before he got to touch his wife. It's like in Avengers Endgame, Hawkeye went back in time and he yelled out for his daughter and she was so close he almost got to see her, but then he was sent back. He tried so hard to see what he loved that he thought he had lost. And that's what made the scene that much more painful. In the same way I just really wanted him to be alive and safe and get to see and feel his wife. And then he died. Does anybody feel that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HollyHockNovember 2, 2020 at 9:17 AM

      I love your allusion to the Avengers movie, Brooke!

      Delete
    2. Ethan or Hanna HamNovember 2, 2020 at 8:28 PM

      Yes, the brain always wants the good guy to make it out alive. We hold out for hope. I wanted him to live to see his wife as well. It made the story dramatic.

      Delete
  2. HollyHockNovember 2, 2020 at 9:21 AM

    Something to notice - the sequence of Farquhar's heightened senses in the dream sequence - 1st heightened hearing & then vision, etc. Nothing of importance, just interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ethan or Hanna HamNovember 2, 2020 at 8:27 PM

    I think the author shows the whole dream sequence to build suspense and draw us into the story. If we didn't know what was going on in his mind, it would be boring. It helps us see a picture of the hope he had to escape, and be free of the horror of war.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HollyHockNovember 3, 2020 at 9:20 AM

      Nice insight, Ethan. This type of writing is called Stream of Consciousness writing. We'll talk about it in class.

      Delete
  4. Justin's 2020 school yearNovember 3, 2020 at 6:59 AM

    I agree with Ethan. I think the point of this story was to show readers how many things we don't see because we don't want to see them. I can't think of any other purpose for this story besides entertainment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Brooke B.November 3, 2020 at 7:50 AM

    I agree this book wasn't really thrilling, maybe they just wanted to catch our attention.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Line Illuminator

 He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. “If I could free my hands,” he thought, “I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader’s farthest advance.” 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. Chapter 1 Upon re-reading this portion of the story, it struck me that this bit is actually severely foreshadowing the events of Peyton's "dream sequence" later on. The first paragraph recounts step for step the events of his supposed escape, falling in the stream, dodging bullets, etc., etc. In addition, in the second-to-last sentence, the author clarifies that "these thoughts...were flashe
Read more

Literature Connections

I know I keep coming back to this, but one thing that I notice frequently both in fiction and in real life, is that who you consider to be the "good guys" and "bad guys" is entirely based on your own individual perspective and worldview. Any one person's view may or may not be the correct (truthful) one, but it is theirs and they are entitled to it. That being said, that person must be willing to live with the consequences of following his or her own beliefs.  To relate this point back to An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge: From Peyton Farquhar's point of view, the Confederacy was in the right, while Union soldiers were the "bad guys" who must be stopped. As a southern plantation (and presumed slave) owner, his perspective would be drastically different from that of say, a Northern factory worker. Acting upon his own beliefs and loyalty was what ultimately led to Peyton's attempted interference at the bridge, along with his subsequent capture an
Read more