Read the excerpt from "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." 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.” Which best describes the impact of the narration in the excerpt? It helps the reader understand why the man is being hanged. It introduces the reader to a new character through the character’s thoughts. It allows the reader to understand the thoughts of a man preparing for death. It reveals to the reader the man’s plan of escape.
Answers
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is parted into three segments. This excerpt is from the first segment of the story. Here, Peyton Farquhar is hanging on a bridge, several feet over the water. His hands bound and around the neck is a snare which is fixed to a bar overhead. He is situated on free boards that have been placed over the cross-ties to create a temporary platform. Two troopers from the Northern armed force, a captain, and a sergeant instantly encompass him, anticipating the execution. Farquhar gazes into the twirling water beneath. He notices a bit of driftwood being conveyed downstream and takes note of how drowsy the stream is by all accounts. He then closes his eyes to push away the diversions of his current situation and concentrate all the more eagerly on contemplations of his significant other and children. He, all of a sudden, hears a metallic and sharp ringing, which sounds both far off and close by. The sound ends up being the ticking of his watch. Moreover, opening the eyes and looking again into the water, Farquhar envisions liberating his hands, expelling the noose, and diving into the stream, swimming to his home, securely situated outside foe-lines. These contemplations have scarcely enrolled in Farquhar's psyche when the commander gestures to the sergeant and he steps from the board.
This explanation suggests that the narrator presents the point of view of the man facing the problem so that the audience can get involved with the character’s mentality. Hence, option C ideally describes the impact of narration in the given excerpt. It shows how a person thinks when he is facing his death.