In my opinion, Bierce ended the story the way he did to keep his story within the boundaries of reality. It also could've been that if Peyton was hugging his wife when he felt the stunning blow, the blinding lights, and the booming sounds it might have looked like his wife had killed him. So if he wasn't hugging her when the blow happened, we wouldn't be so confused, I think.
I agree with you, Jonathon, if the story had continued more it would've gotten really wild and out of the bonds of a possible reality. Also your second thought kinda answers my thinking question as well. Never thought of it that way.
Yeah, we covered part of the ending when discussing Hannah's thinking question, and that also helps explain why he choose the ending - not to confuse us any more and to bring us back to reality. Because he chose to have the whole journey of escaping be a dream, he needed to have Peyton die before he officially reached his wife and was brought back to his original lifestyle. Also, since he was reaching the end of his journey of escape in his dream, it was time for him to end his journey of the struggle of staying alive. If you meant why did he choose to kill Peyton in the end instead of letting the escape be real, I guess he wanted the readers to understand the seriousness/reality of death and war. If the theme of the story was death, then he needed to portray the journey as his journey of death, which of course would require him to die.
Another thought, if Peyton had been hugging his wife when the blow occurred, it would've been a very dramatic change from Peyton hugging his wife to him hanging underneath the Owl Creek Bridge. It might have been too fast for us to adjust between the two.
In my opinion, Bierce ended the story the way he did to keep his story within the boundaries of reality. It also could've been that if Peyton was hugging his wife when he felt the stunning blow, the blinding lights, and the booming sounds it might have looked like his wife had killed him. So if he wasn't hugging her when the blow happened, we wouldn't be so confused, I think.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Jonathon, if the story had continued more it would've gotten really wild and out of the bonds of a possible reality. Also your second thought kinda answers my thinking question as well. Never thought of it that way.
DeleteYeah, we covered part of the ending when discussing Hannah's thinking question, and that also helps explain why he choose the ending - not to confuse us any more and to bring us back to reality. Because he chose to have the whole journey of escaping be a dream, he needed to have Peyton die before he officially reached his wife and was brought back to his original lifestyle. Also, since he was reaching the end of his journey of escape in his dream, it was time for him to end his journey of the struggle of staying alive. If you meant why did he choose to kill Peyton in the end instead of letting the escape be real, I guess he wanted the readers to understand the seriousness/reality of death and war. If the theme of the story was death, then he needed to portray the journey as his journey of death, which of course would require him to die.
DeleteAnother thought, if Peyton had been hugging his wife when the blow occurred, it would've been a very dramatic change from Peyton hugging his wife to him hanging underneath the Owl Creek Bridge. It might have been too fast for us to adjust between the two.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree. He needed to end it that way in order for the transition to be smooth.
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