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.

Farquhar was a well-to-do planter, who was devoted to the Southern cause. Certain unknown circumstances prevented him from serving in the army. However, he still would do everything he possibly could to aid the south. He was sitting out at his home with his wife when a soldier came through. The soldier informed Farquhar that the Union soldiers have been repairing railroads in the area, including Owl Creek Bridge, which was approximately 30 miles from his home. When asked if it were possible to sabotage the bridge, the soldier responded to Farquhar that he had stored wood there last winter and it is dry now, so he could burn it down. The soldier

"Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him," (482). This quote is from Ambrose Bierce in his short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Throughout this narrative, foreshadowing is a driving force that keeps the audience's attention.

I chose this source from the National Archives due to its relevance to the era in which “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, by Ambrose Bierce was written. This document stresses the life of Confederate citizens in relation to contact with Federal soldiers. It includes information about citizens loyal to the Confederate flag spying, violating military orders, citizens moving through military installations, citizens not surrendering to the Union, and citizens committing sabotage to Federal arms. Citizens also provided business firms and services to assist the Confederate war effort, even after being seized by Federal arms. Civilian businesses even northward provided Confederate espionage, deceit, and the hiding of Confederate guerilla forces.

“A cynic is a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, and not as they ought to be.”- Ambrose Bierce. Ambrose Bierce used imagery to foreshadow Farquhar dying. He also used allusion. The author also used symbolism to foreshadow in the story.

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.

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.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a story of a man who is fighting to live but is already dead. The foreshadowing and shock that is used in this story point towards Peyton Farquhar’s death. From neck pain to the cannon he hears really is only a mere gun that is shot at him. This story is full of literary techniques. The Irony that Peyton Farquhar a man that’s already dead thinks he has escaped but is only in his reality. Everything in this story come together to show that this man is dead no matter how hard he fights and the literary techniques and foreshadowing is great at telling you he is dead.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, directed by Robert Enrico, depicts an occurrence in the mind of Peyton Farquhar. He is a civilian who tampers with the Union’s railroad system and is going to be hanged, and all he can think about is escaping and getting home to his wife. Unfortunately, death is a reality and no one can escape it.

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.

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.

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

The film version of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge leaves out section two, along with many other important factors. Peyton Farquhar: the main character and the man being hanged is left nameless throughout the film and his detailed background that is portrayed in the text is left out as well. By reading the

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.

"An Event at Owl Creek Bridge" is composed by Ambrose Bierce. This short story happens amid the Common War. A man, Peyton Farquhar, is discovered discoloring with the scaffold and is condemned to be hanged. Ambrose Bierce outlined this bit of writing to keep the perusers consideration, by going into the brain of Peyton. While remaining towards the edge of the board, Peyton begins to dream of his escape back to his family. In the last passage of the story, the creator recounts how Peyton is just envisioning and afterward he is hanged. "An Event at Owl Creek Bridge" is sensational because of the viability of flashbacks, the setting, and the utilization of Peyton's faculties.