Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

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.

The title presents a portentous effect among readers. It uses the word “occurrence” to warn the reader of an awful event that is about to take place. The fact that the event takes place “at” a bridge, instead of “on” the bridge, is also mysterious. In the story, all events happen at the bridge, even when the author leads you elsewhere. Also, it is not just any bridge, but the “Owl Creek” bridge. The author uses the all-knowing, sharp-eyed, ominous owl in the name for his bridge, yet he sets the bridge above a creek – a symbol for life, hope, and freedom.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce has the audience feeling multiple emotions such as shocked and on the edge of their seat from start to finish. Peyton Farquhar is a plantation owner is his mid-thirties. Farquhar was up for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge the Civil War because a Federal scout betrayed him. Bierce could mislead the readers thinking that Peyton Farquhar, was escaping from being hung when in fact it was just is imagination. Bierce engages a great use of characterization in how he describes the characters throughout the story and timing details, to have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats and having a twist that no one was expecting.

Ambrose Bierce uses suspense when writing the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” which keeps the reader on the edge of their seat and allows Bierce to control the mood and tempo of the story. The story happens on a bridge where a man is being hanged by the union army. The details of the hanging are explained in part one. In part two it is explained who the main character is Peyton Farquhar and how he was tricked into attempting to burn down a bridge. After that in part three it shows the events preceding the death of Farquhar and the exaggerated images that follow until it is exclaimed in the end of the story that Farquhar has died. and Bierce uses multiple methods to create suspense, including the story structure, plot details, and imagery.

Bierce has several reasons to set the story at the bridge. The irony that the bridge that Farquhar has resolved to destroy becomes the bridge where his life is taken is not to be missed. He is warned, but just like other owners of men, he thought himself invincible. The bridge also represents the transition from one state of being to another. In Farquhar’s situation, it helped him to transition from life, with the last sight being that of his beloved wife, a pleasantry to carry with him as he crosses over to

Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, which is a short story released in 1890, gained much popularity over the years. It is most famous for it’s manipulation of time. Though the events in the book only take seconds, the story is over eight pages long. Time seems to slow for the man in the noose and at the same time speed up for the reader. In this way, Bierce presents his manipulation of time in the story.

In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "The Story of an Hour," the authors use similar techniques to create different tones, which in turn illicit very distinct reactions from the reader. Both use a third person narrator with a limited omniscient point of view to tell of a brief, yet significant period of time. In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce uses this method to create an analytical tone to tell the story of Farquhar's experience just before death. In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin uses this method to create an involved, sympathetic tone to relay the story of Mrs. Mallard's experience just before death. These stories can be compared on

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 believe “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is worthy to remain on the required reading list because, although Bierce shares the common element of shaping each character to their setting, class, and gender role through a realistic representation; he goes a step further by exploring the inner truths of characters through a unique narrative approach compared to other realist authors. All of the characteristics above were becoming prevalent themes in the late 19th century; as the population began to digest the aftermath effects of the Civil War, this led to the transition of Romantic literature to a bleak, realistic approach. However, unlike other contemporary writers, Bierce did not limit the narrator to the third person omniscient point of view like in Jack London’s “To Build a

As Farquhar plummets from the bridge, he loses consciousness; then pain awakens him. A loud splash awakens him further and he realises his noose is broken as he falls into the stream. He sees a light flicker, fade, then brighten as he struggles to rise to the surface. In fear that he will be shot when he breaks the surface, he frees himself from his bounds and stays underwater a bit longer. When he rises, he sees the Northern soldiers still on the bridge and a sentinel fires his rifle at him twice. The lieutenant orders his men to fire to he dives into the water and removes a piece of metal from his neck. Returning for air, he gets shot at by the sentinels again; then he is shot at by a cannon. Suddenly he enters a disorienting whirl and ends up on the bank. When a cannon shoots at him again, he runs through the forest back home; it takes all day but the thought of his wife and children encourages him. As he nears the gates of his house he sees his wife and goes to embrace her. But before he reaches her, he feels a sharp pain in his neck and a sees a blinding white light. Then he is engulfed by utter darkness and silence. He is dead, and his damaged body is hanging from Owl Creek

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.

As Farquhar is falling to his death, time seems to slow, or come to a brief halt, as the

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.

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.

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.