An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Essay

The short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce is a short story about a man named Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged. The story takes place during the Civil War and Farquhar is constantly thinking of his wife and children at home. He dreams that he is able to escape and run to safety, where he finds his wife. When he goes to hug her, he suddenly feels a strong pain around his neck. Farquhar is then hanging off the bridge with the noose still around his neck. He imagined all of this before he was hanged.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” leads readers to query Ambrose Bierce about the numerous point of view shifts his story takes. Ambrose Bierce’s descriptive writing style grasps the reader’s attention, unknowingly manipulating the reader throughout the entire story. This statement holds to be true as the story line develops. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” has a variety of ups and downs throughout the story, changing the direction and perspective through its point of view of omniscient and limited omniscient. Ambrose Bierce’s various shifts deceive readers into believing the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar, has escaped a perilous fate.

Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” and the film version directed by Robert Enrico share some similarities but mostly the differences between the two works. Both the short story and film can be compared and contrasted in relation to the emotion, detail and perspective. One is at an advantage, reading the short story before seeing the film because the story gives a better idea of what is happening and who the protagonist really is. In other words, the short story helps in providing the reader with key details that are not mentioned in the film.

Peyton Farquhar is a wealthy, proud southern man. Farquhar had wish to enroll in the military but was unable too due to causes that are unknown. He was then later fooled by a union scout impersonating a confederate soldier. This union scout tricked Farquhar into believing he could stop the northerners from advancing into southern territory. Farquhar was convinced by this scout that the only way to stop the northerners from going into southern territory was to destroy the railroad bridge at Owl Creek. While Farquhar is attempting

Ambrose Bierce’s short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a story about a man’s final moments on earth before he is hanged and how he got there. There is a struggle within the character Farquhar of who he is and who he thinks he is. This causes different views throughout the story between reality and a fantasized reality. This plays a big role in the story because in part three of the story he thinks he is far superior and had outwitted his captures and escaped without a scratch after the rope broke and fell into the water. In reality he had been hanged and his body was swaying back and forth. This story had more meaning then just the top layer of being just about a guy who is being hanged. The meaning of this story is how fluid time moves, by this I mean how time seems to flow like a river it can move fast to slow and even seem to stand still. It has a secondary meaning of how we can fantasize another reality that can cause troubles for us. By this I mean you can envision your self into another world when you are still in the actual world, this can cause you to get yourself into a lot of trouble.

I chose to write about “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” because it only lasts for a short few seconds, but it lasts for days in the mind of Peyton Farquhar. It is interesting to me how time is so much shorter in real life time than it is in the mind. This story took place in an Alabama town during the Civil War.

“The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Bierce tells the story of a man being punished for a crime. While he is dying, he vividly imagines his escape, the one thing that urges him on is the thought of his family. “White Heron,” by Sarah Orne Jewett follows a girl named Sylvia who lives in a small country home with her grandmother. She has a simple life: walking with her cow and hanging out with the forest creatures. However, when a young hunter arrives on the scene with a very alluring offer, Sylvia is faced with a tough decision. The setting of the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, is in northern Alabama during the Civil War. The short story, “A White Heron”, takes place in New England during the summer on a farm. Throughout the short stories both Jewett and Bierce, describe the similar scenes a pond, a forest, and a faint sunlight.

Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” illustrates a theme of illusion versus reality distorted by the human mind. In the story, a man named Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged on a railroad bridge towards the end of the American Civil War. Farquhar, a Confederate citizen eager to help the Confederate States of America’s cause, ventures out towards Owl Creek Bridge at the advice of a Union scout in disguise. Unbeknownst to Farquhar, Union troops captured the bridge and surrounding territory, and upon capturing Farquhar, elect to hang him on charges of being a Confederate spy and sympathizer. As he is being hanged, however, Farquhar is able to escape his fate by falling into the river below. He manages to return back to his home, only to find out the entire experience of escape was an illusion created by his own imagination. The story concludes with the revelation that he actually died on the railroad bridge. Farquhar’s mind was able to create a whole new reality for himself. This reality was vivid, and it seems real to the reader until the very end of the story. The hallucination also spanned hours, yet in reality time passed for only a few seconds. Ambrose Bierce’s story demonstrates the impeccable powers of the human mind and its ability to distort time and reality for itself.

Farquhar goes through an emotional battlefield within his own mind, and his thoughts are not in accordance with present life events. His mindset of what is true and what he thinks is occurring in his life makes the reader feel frustrated. However, the reader does not hear of Peyton’s death until the end of text; they are able to assume the truth. The story tells how Peyton is being hung for something he is innocent for and is in fact set up. “Peyton Farquhar was a well-to-do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family”(Bierce 483) this description of Peyton makes him a perfect target to put the blame on. Peyton is spoken to a soldier that he is unaware of the actual identity of this man and begins ask him questions involving Owl Creek Bridge: “‘Suppose a man-a civilian and student of hanging- should elude the picket post...at this end of the bridge.’ Farquhar smiling, ‘what could he accomplish?’”(484). Peyton tricked during this point of the story and had given information to the opposing side soon to be turned on: “He was a federal scout”(484). This makes the reader frustrated to hear that this innocent man will soon be accused as a criminal. When standing on the bridge, Farquhar was still hopeful that he will survive his hanging and make it back home to his family: “My home, thank God,... my wife and little ones...As these thoughts...were flashed into

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a very interesting piece of writing. Mainly because Bierce illustrating both realism and illusion throughout the narrative. Bierce's demonstrates realism by guiding his audience into believing his story is actually real. By being descriptive of the surrounding area and actual events that were taken place at that time. Bierce displays illusion by giving tiny clues in the narrative that symbolize an illusion.

In this humorous short story, the author incorporates the traditional form of the tall tale into a story of his own creation. The author of this short story produces a sort of literal debate between town and country. In appropriating this fictional frog story for his own purposes, Twain makes various changes in the composition. Mark Twain the narrator embellishes in his interesting story about his encounter with Simon Wheeler in the mining settlement at Angel’s Camp.

In an article titled “The Unsettling Arrival of Speculative 9/11 fiction” (September 11, 2015); Joshua Rothman, writer for the New Yorker, claims that in the up and coming years fictitious and uncomfortable stories about the tragedies of 9/11 are going to appear more and more often. Rothman recalls a story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, he read when he was in high school that reminded him of a modern story based around 9/11, “Beyond the flags” by Kris Saknussemm. He then lists many other possibly upsetting modern fiction stories from “In the Shadow of the Towers: Speculative Fiction in a post 9/11 world”. He recounts many of these stories and their creepiness in order to reveal that it’s no longer “too soon” to talk

In comparison to most short stories, the story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” is quite different. Rather than following a linear pattern and building suspense up, then letting it fall, then building it up, then letting it fall, then building suspense up, then letting it fall, then building it up, then letting it fall, then building suspense up, then letting it fall, then building it up, then letting it fall, then building suspense up, then letting it fall, then building it up, then letting it fall, then building suspense up, then letting it fall, it follows an odd timeline of events, continuously forcing the reader to wonder what is actually happening, and when.

He lost consciousness and was dead, but was suddenly awakened, and felt a sharp pain. He was flung into the forest and shone golden stars grouped in odd constellations. Farquhar began to hear distinct unknow whispers. Now unveils another scene seen by Farquhar. He stands at the gate of his home, his arms extended wide and he sees his beautiful wife. For this was all a fantasy. His imagination of his great escape had never happened. For his mind used such distinct and vivid details that Farquhar believed this was all reality. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce uses symbolism combined with irony, vivid details, and similes to build a mood.

Question 5: What do you think the theme of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is?