War and to make the reader feel a part of that terrible conflict. The story begins with a man about to be hanged. The point of view throughout the story is that of this man. This is not because the story is told by him, which it is not, but because the omniscient narrator observes the actions of this man, recounts his thoughts, and always keeps this individual at the center of the story. The role of the observer is emphasized in the opening section of the story, for the man being hanged is not yet identified and is described as if by someone who had just come upon the scene. This technique immediately places the reader in the role of observer as well and causes the reader to participate in the act of observation, sharing with the narrator certain attitudes and responses just by the nature of the narrative. The "position" of the narrator shifts slowly to one more directly connected to the consciousness of the man being hanged so that now the reader shares in the responses of this individual to his plight--the reader now experiences with the man the sight of the stream rushing by, thoughts of wife and children, and the sounds heard as the man waits for the end. Bierce uses literature to give the reader an other-worldly experience.
What happens in this story is out of the ordinary on one level, and yet it is very down to earth on another. Bierce develops character on a minimal level in this story, but he does develop a sense of the power of the writer to carry the reader to different realms and to moments in time that would otherwise be denied. The story has an immediacy that makes the reader feel he or she was actually present with the man to be hanged, and the story also places in perspective the relationship between life and death and the plight of the soldier on the battlefield.
James Joyce in "Araby" creates a strong characterization of his main character in a simple plot that carries great import because of the way i...