Bret Harte's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Does time stop or slow down during death? In the short story by Ambrose Bierce “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The author extensively uses foreshadowing during the short story that manipulates the reader to lead towards the factors of symbolism, irony, setting, and viewpoint. They’re numerous viewpoints from the readers perspective of, symbolism, and irony that, indicate the timeline of Peyton Farquhar tragic death. Ambrose Bierce uses the time to manipulate the reader from understanding the plot, making it impossible to forecast most of the short story.

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.

“There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” This is a quote from George R.R. Martin, an American novelist and short story writer. This quote captures the concept that Ambrose Bierce presents in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. Throughout this story, it is clear that Bierce is not keen on war. Bierce is not keen on war and believes it strips the humanity out of people.

Author, Ambrose Bierce, who is considered one of the Great American authors, wrote during the realism period. Particularly, in his work titled An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, written in 1890, we can see evidence of the characteristics, themes and style identified with the realism movement which was extant in American letters between 1850 and 1900. As a representative of such a movement, Ambrose Bierce, then remains on the most identifiable and iconic writers of his time.

The title plays an important role in catching the reader’s attention. If the title is interesting or compelling enough, one will be motivated to read it; otherwise, the story may never be read, resulting in a loss to both the author and the reader. In Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the author grabs the reader’s attention with a “creepy” title, indicating a bad happening on the Owl Creek Bridge. Peyton Farquhar, a planter who supports the Southern cause during the Civil War, is on the brink of execution by hanging. The title sets the eerie tone of the story, which appears to be about a hanging, and the setting, which appears to be a bridge.

In “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, the story of a man by the name of Peyton Farquhar whose unlawful actions landed him in a heap of trouble is told. The story is split into three sections which goes back in forth between the past, the present and Farquhar’s falsation of both. By taking the approach of using symbols throughout the story, Bierce gave the opportunity for the reader to feel like they are apart of the story as well as leaving them with a shocker in the very end. Since the story goes back in forth between reality and illusion, the reader may get a bit confused while reading but you get

In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Bierce starts her short story on the edge with Peyton Farquhar, a 35 year old planter from the south, standing on Owl Creek Bridge with his hands tied behind his back and a noose around his neck. There are soldiers from the north surrounding him. Two soldiers, one on each side of him, take away the plank in which he is standing on. Falling to the water, Farquhar focuses his last thoughts on his family, while also having hopes of freeing his hands and diving into the water below.

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.

The Juxtaposition of Soldier and Civilian Elie Wiesel, a political activist, once commented “war dehumanizes, and war diminishes all those who wage near it.” Set during the Civil War, Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” shares a similar sentiment about the relationship and difference between dehumanized militants and more compassionate civilians near them. His short story’s plot follows Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate supporter, as the Union military force is about to hang him on Owl Creek Bridge– without trial– for attempting arson against the Union, although, Farquhar seemingly escapes his demise and travels back to his house. Yet, just as Farquhar is about to reunite with his wife, the narrator reveals that Farquhar hallucinated

The short story, “An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, is quite strange and vivid in its description of the final moments before death. It gives a sudden burst of hope to the reader with the escape of main character, Peyton Farquhar.

You got a friend in Tennessee In Bret Harte’s “Tennessee’s Partner,” the narration talks about the struggling and rewarding loyalty between two men. From the title, there is a mystery occurring because who is the individual that has no name that lives to full expectations of keeping a relationship with Tennessee. Names carry power for an individual. It’s something that you’re born with and that name follows you on a tombstone when you die.

“An Occurrence at Own Creek Bridge” is a very detailed story which paints a vivid

All these symbols could not happen to an average individual, the reader ignores these symbols. Having so much hope for him to escape the readers will will expect Peyton escape but Bierce turns it around by one sentence at the end of the text, “Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge”. Which brought the reader back into reality, Bierce was able to show that death can not be escaped.

The story does well in manipulating a reader's way of thinking there are moments that will people thinking one thing is going to happen, but then it is later revealed the opposite, or nothing at all occurs. Evidence of such is when Peyton Fahrquhar is visited by a supposed Confederate soldier that seem to be friendly until later on readers find out the soldier was actually from the Union army. Such evidence is hinted when the author is showing the readers the last thing Peyton remembers before he was on the bridge. The story shows ” One evening Farquhar and his wife were sitting on a rusty bench near the entrance to his grounds, a gray-clad soldier rode up the gate asking for a drink of water” ( Bierce 2). Later on, in that same paragraph readers will notice that the soldier was giving Peyton pretty valuable information a typical soldier does not tell a civilian. With what is shown goes on par with the idea of the tone and the theme due to the fact that the average reader at first would fall for such a fake identity just to be surprised at who arrested Peyton.

Although the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek,” is ironic, there are other literary elements represented in the story. Perhaps Ambrose Bierce’s most famous works, he used imagery from his own personal experiences in the Civil War, which adds to the suspense of the short story. Imagination is a difficult word to define. The ability to have a daydream, or picture with vivid details, is what imagination could be. An imagination is key for some people, who escape real life into a fantasy world. Bierce's “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” uses point of view, structure, and symbolism to show the power or capability of imagination.