An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing Analysis

Foreshadowing is a writing technique used to hint or indicate to readers what is to happen in the future. In the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” the author, Ambrose Bierce, uses the technique of foreshadowing quite often to let his readers know that a happy ending should not be expected. Throughout the entire story there are many different implications that show the audience there is only death waiting at the end of the story for the main character, Peyton Fahrquhar.
The way Bierce goes about the foreshadowing is subtle, but also obvious as it is used repetitively in the story. This repetitive foreshadowing can be seen through the constant mention of the pain Fahrquhar feels on his neck and throat when he escapes. From the very beginning, when Fahrquhar falls, it is told that he is awakened by “the pain of sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation” (Bierce 4) and in the very last moments of the story, when he is almost home, still “his neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it found it horribly swollen” (7). The author brings attention to the main characters neck and throat continuously to insinuate that he will die due to a broken neck, as it is later revealed at the end of the story. …show more content…
At the beginning of his fall, the character is alert to his surroundings and is able to notice the objects, vivid colors, and clear sounds that were right in front of him. While attempting to get to safety later, the character struggles and loses all sense of what is around him and the only things he can grasp are the blurs of colors. The keen awareness of his surroundings foreshadows the moment right before Fahrquhar faces death and the moment of confusion foreshadows the loss of consciousness and the slipping away into

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An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Foreshadowing Analysis

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