A Mystery of Heroism and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Essay Example

A Mystery of Heroism and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Essay Example A Mystery of Heroism and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Paper A Mystery of Heroism and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Paper In the two short stories â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† and â€Å"A Mystery of Heroism,† time is a big theme that is loosely contorted and slowed down to show the character’s ways of coping with fear. During both of these stories, the main characters become almost paralyzed with fear when faced with death. These characters are not aware of the consequences that follow their actions. Both The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and A Mystery of Heroism discuss the quality of time here on earth and just how frightening it can be when one is not ready to die. Farquhar, a wealthy plantation owner born into an almost noble family of the South, is approached one afternoon by a â€Å"Confederate† soldier who inspires him to burn down the Owl Creek bridge to secure the Confederate army more time before the Union strikes again in the South. Much like Farquhar, Collins, the main character in â€Å"A Mystery of Heroism† is coaxed into treading into no mans land to grab some water for the soldiers at an abandoned farm well. Both characters come to the quick realization that the effort put into the task at hand is not nearly worth the outcome and stress once they are deep in action. In Collin’s case he is consciously aware of being dazed the first couple pages. At this time, Collins started thinking about irrelevant stuff like being disrespectful to his mother and, thinking about how he avoided a friend for 11 months after being lent some money and not paying it back. The daydream shortly diminishes when a Union sergeant is sw iftly dropped by an array of confederate bullets. Collins now comes back into touch with his body and mind in unity. Collins scurries to the well and is horribly traumatized. Farquhar being prepared to be hung, so much shows he is scared that he creates an almost different time realm to put himself back into somewhat control. Both of these characters are seeking a sense of heroism before they make unknown mistakes. Col