Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

The Blurred Line: Reality and Illusion

Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” uses several settings to combine and distort reality and illusion. To recap, initially we learned that Peyton Farquhar (who dies at the end) attempted to escape his hanging with illusion. As Farquhar attempted to bend reality to obey his will, he made both reality and illusion indistinct for himself. While Farquhar struggles between what he desires and what he wants to exists. He cannot see that reality is gradually deciding his outcome. It is not until after Farquhar’s death that he realizes that reality is inescapable. Bierce’s idea that people constantly struggle with accepting reality and use illusion as an escape is completely fulfilled

The few seconds’ right before Farquhar feels the tugging at his throat is when he begins to fantasize. Farquhar begins by envisioning himself in a timeless realm. After Farquhar possesses control of time, Farquhar is able to fabricate the ending of his hanging in any way he wants. As quoted, “As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead. From this state he was awakened. (Bierce 90)”. By manipulating time, Farquhar has used the setting of Owl Creek Bridge to give himself life instead of death. Farquhar’s resistance to time and reality with illusion shows how he constantly struggles for what he wants to exist. However, Farquhar cannot recognize that illusions will disappear, reality will decide, and that reality is

At the beginning when Farquhar is being prepped for his hanging he “fixed his last thoughts upon his wife and children (Bierce 89)”. Throughout “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Farquhar never mentioned that he was afraid to die. His only motive for creating his fantasy was so that he could assure his family that they would be alright. On the way home, Farquhar enters the gates and he spots his wife waiting for him. The way Farquhar describes his wife after not seeing him for days seems rather unusually. “He sees a flutter of female garments; his wife, looking fresh and cool and sweet, steps down from the veranda to meet him. At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity (Bierce 92-93)”. This quote suggests that Farquhar’s wife is doing just fine without him. As Farquhar’s desire to confirm his family safety ends, so does his fantasy. Nevertheless, although Farquhar has completed his initial task he still wants to live his in his fantasy permanently. Thus, the setting of his home is Farquhar’s final opportunity to differentiate illusion from reality. However, Farquhar disregards his completed task and refuses to leave, but reality is inescapable. His home is still a battleground between for what he wants to exists and what actually