Ambrose Bierce's The Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

It is said that history is sometimes a mirage showing the world for what it wants to be, not what it truly is, was this the case in Farquhar’s story? Is history a true testament of what happened during those years of division in America, or does Bierce reveal a new side of the story to show the world the honest truth. In Ambrose Bierce’s “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Farquhar’s escape and journey through his subconscious allows an insight into the human psyche as he faces his imminent death. Bierce uses literary elements and the story of Farquhar as devices to show the fleeting nature of reality and the power of illusion.

The moments before Farquhar’s demise gives insight not only into his hopeful fantasy but also his true nature.

In modern american storytelling it seems that this conflict between reality and illusion is what invokes a deep emotional response because of a need for comprehension and knowledge of what is real. Bierce’s knowledge of this desperate need allows him to expertly craft an illusion so lifelike and true that when the end comes the reader will be in total disbelief, and in crafting this allows the reader to fall prey to Farquhar’s false sense of reality. Farquhar’s sensation of experiencing his escape in a hallucinatory state feels so real to him that in his mind it is reality, but “what he feels strays widely from reality” (Duban 34). What Duban is discussing is that Farquhar’s ability to feel was the only source of information he could process his cognitive function was of no use because his belief in the illusion was so powerful it erased Farquhar’s intellectual thinking skills (34). This inhibits Farquhar from being able to stop and consider what has happened and think retrospectively on the events that have occurred, giving the audience no indication that anything other than what is told is true. Much like a great magic trick to work and maze the audience their belief that the magic is real just for a moment achieves the purpose of the illusion, but if the magician believes in the illusion as much the audience does how amazing must that trick be? As Bierce begins to end the story with this illusion of a miraculous escape and triumphal return, he flips the whole story hundred and eighty degrees. The drastic shift from escaping death to falling into its clutches as his broken body swings from the bridge is very powerful element. Bierce provides the audience with an abrupt shift “from the inside of Farquhar’s head to the external reality” which provides insight into the abrupt reality Bierce is saying