"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" displays the incredible ease of deception. Farquhar is deceived by the Federal scout, and the readers are deceived by the author into believing what is imaginary. This story toys with the tendency for people to believe what they want to, sometimes instead of the belief that may be more rational.
Farquhar believed the scout largely because of his deep desire to become a war hero; it seemed so easy. Single-handedly stopping a large group of soldiers is no easy task. Had Farquhar been thinking clearly, he should've known to have questioned the scout more and found out more information for himself before walking into a potential death trap. He neglected to approach the task rationally because of his excitement.
The reader falls into a similar trap of deception when we believe that Farquhar has miraculously escaped the noose. We pity him and want him to escape. We want him to get back to his wife and children so badly that we are manipulated to blindly believe that he achieves the impossible, only to be abruptly returned to the harsh reality. We don't question the more favorable outcome as much as we should because we want to believe that it's the truth.
I like your focus on the emotions involved both within and outside of the story. Emotions are an inevitable part of the human experience. While we grow accustomed to them and perhaps develop tendencies to react to them in certain ways, they often cause oversights in our rationale. They are, I think, a significant factor in our struggle to distinguish truths from lies. In identifying truths and lies, we should strongly consider the effect of emotions.
ReplyDelete