“Suppose a man—a civilian and student of hanging—should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel,” said Fahrquhar, smiling, “what could he accomplish?” The soldier reflected. “I was there a month ago,” he replied. “I observed that the flood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. It is now dry and would burn like tow.” (Chapter 2) Fahrquhar's plan was to infiltrate the enemy encampment on Owl Creek Bridge. This is not what happened, however. The story does not really explain what occurred between this conversation with the officer and Fahrquhar's hanging, but something must have gone wrong. Apparently he was trying to burn down the bridge entirely. The question is, why did his plan fail. Did an officer catch him before he could set the loose tinder alight,or perhaps Fahrquhar did not plan the espionage well enough and the old planks did not catch fire. Either way, he is now subje
If Fahrquhar had not acted so rashly and rushed to Owl Creek Bridge without researching it or planning a strategy of attack, the story would have taken an entirely different turn. What do you thing would have happened if Fahrquhar had taken his time and done his research before blindly racing to his doom? Would he have warned the village about the dangerous spy? Or perhaps he would have ignored his research and rushed to the bridge anyway. Also, if he did alter his course of action, would it change the story-line at all? Daniel S. Ware
"N ow he sees another scene—perhaps he has merely recovered from a delirium. He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine." This reminds me of the original pilot episode of Star Trek: the Original Series. In the episode, the Enterprise comes across a planet where another exploratory party crashed. When they beam down they find the inhabitants, still alive and in perfect condition. Captain Pike is led to a mountain by one of the survivors. A secret door opens at the top and strange beings knock Pike unconscious and drag him underground. Meanwhile, on the surface, the entire party of survivors disappears. It is later found that the alien race (called Talosians) have obtained telepathic abilities and can create illusions using their minds. Virtually everything that occurs in the episode is really just an illusion. Even though the illusions in Star Trek are not identical to the events in An Occurrence
Comments
Post a Comment