27 pages • 54 minutes read
Ambrose BierceA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Bierce uses both sound and motion as motifs to explore death and perception. Afruza Khanom notes that sound, specifically silence, is used in the story to create “an atmosphere of uncertainty that forces readers to read between the lines and bring out the unwritten narrative” (Khanom 45). The reader is not certain if what Farquhar is experiencing is real or imagined. For example, the sounds the reader hears are Farquhar’s thoughts. In between his thoughts is silence. No one on the bridge utters a word, including Farquhar. Khanom notes, “Bierce effectively uses the silence of the protagonist of his story to portray the suffering and psychological torment that is present even when words are not uttered, and shrieks of pain cannot be heard” (Khanom 47). The reader sees the torment in the moments when sound should be present. For instance, Farquhar is thinking of his wife and is distracted by the watch on his wrist ticking. Bierce writes, “The intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater infrequency the sound increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek” (7-8).
By Ambrose Bierce
American Civil War
View Collection
American Literature
View Collection
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection
The Power & Perils of Fame
View Collection
War
View Collection