An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Question

by Ambrose Bierce
He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children. The water, touched to gold by the early sun, the brooding mists under the
banks at some distance down the stream, the fort, the soldiers, the piece of drift—all had distracted him. And now he became conscious of a new
disturbance. Striking through the thought of his dear ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion
like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurably distant or
nearby— it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell. He awaited each new stroke with impatience and—he knew
not why—apprehension. The intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater infrequency the sounds
increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of his watch.
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.
Use the passage from “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to answer the question.
Drag each line from the passage to the developing theme it supports.
the preciousness of life perceptions of reality
He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.
They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of his watch.
By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home.
Striking through the thought of his dear ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke
of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality.

Answer 1

Sure! Here's how the lines from the passage can be categorized according to the themes of "the preciousness of life" and "perceptions of reality":

The Preciousness of Life:

• He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.
• By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home.

Perceptions of Reality:

• They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of his watch.
• Striking through the thought of his dear ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality.

This organization illustrates how the protagonist clings to thoughts of his family as a representation of life's preciousness, while also grappling with his distorted perceptions shaped by the distressing sounds around him.