Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and limbs….They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature. As to his head, he was conscious of nothing but a feeling of fullness--of congestion. These sensations were unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his nature was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and feeling was torment.
The author is saying that war causes pain to an extent where a man loses all senses, except pain. In this quotation, the man is waking up after being captured at Owl Creek Bridge. When he first wakes up he notices “agonies” on “every fiber of his body.” He woke up and he doesn’t even have enough time to comprehend where he is, all he can think about is the sheer pain. The pain is described as a “pulsating fire” and as “intolerable.” There are dozens of words to describe the pain, but the author uses words like intolerable. This shows that the pain is truly excruciating, and even though it is being caused by a man, it is as intolerable as a fire. The author describes that the man only has to power to fell and that feeling was torment. This proves that the man, at that moment, loses all other senses. He can’t think about anything else that is going on in the world. The pain is an issue on top of many other issues on his life. That particular issue is so over-dominating to all other issues. He went into battle thinking of destroying the bridge, when all along, he never could have known that the pain caused by war would be capable of letting him completely forget about his main objective. The pain swallows his emotions and thought until there is nothing left but a weak man, suffering unimaginably.
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