Question

Which sentence refers to the reality of Farquhar's situation in the dream sequence in section 3 of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?
They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, its undulations resembling those of a water snake. "Put it back, put it back!" He thought he shouted these words to his hands, for the undoing of the noose had been succeeded by the direst pang that he had yet experienced. His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, his heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to force itself out at his mouth. His whole body was racked and wrenched with an insupportable anguish! But his disobedient hands gave no heed to the command. They beat the water vigorously with quick, downward strokes, forcing him to the surface. He felt his head emerge; his eyes were blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded convulsively, and with a supreme and crowning agony his lungs engulfed a great draught of air, which instantly he expelled in a shriek!

Answer 1

Answer:

"His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, his heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to force itself out at his mouth. His whole body was racked and wrenched with an insupportable anguish! But his disobedient hands gave no heed to the command."

Explanation:

Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek" tells the story of how the protagonist Peyton Fahrquhar's hanging on the bridge and his imaginary thoughts of escaping the noose. In the small time he had between the hanging and his death, he imagines all sorts of escape route, his plans and how he wants to live after the escape.

Though most of what was described in the plot are just the imagination of Peyton, there are also some instances where the plot or pain is real. This can be seen in the third part of the story where Fahrquhar details his 'imaginary' escape after he reached the water. He describes how he was escaping from the water, but the reality part of the imagination was when his body actually felt the pain from the hanging and pain that follows right after. "His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, his heart,.... trying to force itself out at his mouth". The pain was felt in his whole body, making it evident that the pain was real and not part of his imagination.