Ambrose Bierce’s compelling short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” revolves around Peyton Farquhar, a planter during the Civil War. This story takes place at Owl Creek Bridge, a bridge in North Alabama. Bierce skillfully immerses readers into the suspenseful world of Peyton Farquhar with his use of vivid imagery and descriptive language. Bierce draws the reader in immediately with an overwhelming sense of suspense and anxiety in the first few lines of the story. As the story unfolds, he deftly manipulates time and perspective, challenging readers to distinguish between illusions and reality. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, stands out as the most compelling short story due to its engaging suspense, vivid details, and unpredictable …show more content…
Bierce deftly manipulates the readers into thinking that Farquhar has made a successful escape, only to shock them by revealing that he did not survive the hanging. The story does not explicitly state that Farquhar survives, but based on the subtle clues, readers are led to believe he survived the execution. In the text, it says, “He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He gave the struggle his attention, as an idler might observe the feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome” (Pg.2). It also said, “He had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly round, himself the pivotal point, and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the two privates, his executioners” (Pg.2). These quotes highlight the fact that Bierce successfully builds on suspense in the story to lead up to the plot twist at the end. The first quote emphasizes Farquahar's dissociation from reality as he attempts to free himself. The second quote attempts to recognize Farquhar slowly gaining back his consciousness. This is significant because it confuses readers and leads them to believe that Farquhar did in fact survive the execution. It creates a sense of ambiguity and anxiety about his fate. This unanticipated change of events highlights Bierce’s storytelling abilities. It contributes to the overall impact of the story by leaving a lasting impression on
The Federal soldiers execute orders in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, which Ambrose Bierce (Ambrose 551) characterizes Peyton Farquhar’s impending demise as he encounter delusions, exemplifies profound keen senses, and experiences a perplexing fight-or-flight mental cognizance in an escape toward a perceived freedom, and nonetheless, remains a “standing civilian and a student in a hanging” (554).
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” takes place in the south during the civil war, in which a man named Farqhar experiences illusions before his execution. In these illusions he is dreaming of escaping from the Northerners and continuing with his life, however his dreams are abruptly cut short. Ambrose Bierce relies on incongruity and imagery to suggest the theme of naturalism in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Bierce, is the story of the hanging of a Civil War era Southern gentleman by the name of Peyton Farquhar. The story begins with an unidentified man being prepared to be hanged by a company of Union soldiers on a railroad bridge that runs over a river. He is then identified as Peyton Farquhar, a man who attempted to destroy the very bridge they are standing on based on information he was given by a Federal scout posing as a Confederate soldier. As he is dropped from the bridge to hang, the rope snaps and he falls into the river. After freeing himself and returning to the surface of the river, he realizes that his senses are all much heightened and he even “noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass” (153). Peyton then begins to swim downstream as he is being shot at by the soldiers and a cannon as well. He soon pulls himself ashore and begins the long journey home. After walking all day and night, to the point where “his tongue was swollen with thirst” and “he could no longer feel the roadway beneath his feet” he finally makes it to his home (155). Just as he is about to embrace his wife he feels a sharp pain in his neck and hears a loud snap. He is dead from the hanging, and all this was just a dream. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” shows the potential strength that a person’s will to live can have, and that we often don’t appreciate...
Bierce broke this story down into three parts. The first part of the narrative creates an atmosphere with the setting at Owl Creek Bridge. Great detail is told here as to who is present at the scene, what is happening, what the scene looks like, etc. But the reader only receives ideas and thoughts from one person, Peyton Farquar. The first part as like the other two parts of this story is written very systematically and clear. Even with such a structured set up, the author still manages to put great anticipation and fearsome emotion into the near end of the first part of this story. At this point the author makes the reader think Peyton is devising a way to set his hands free from the rope thereby beginning his journey to escape home.
Ambrose Bierce triumphantly created a story that readers perceive to be manipulating It leaves the reader to rehash the entire story once complete. It is at this point where the reader may realize the dynamic of Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” in regards to the changes in shifts in perspective as well as the shifts in time the story undertakes. As readers reconsider the story, they are allotted the opportunity to decide for themselves what exactly was happening to Peyton Farquhar, moments before his death. Once readers have done so, they can truly appreciate Bierce’s grim story as a whole, manipulating as it may be.
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.
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Bierce is a short story about a man who seems to be lost in a world between reality and imagination. The story shows trials, triumphs, and the matters of life and death. The main character Peyton Farquhar is a proud confederate, husband, planter, and politician, not only is he all of those things but he is an optimist and this is what takes him on the journey of his life. After being put in a sticky situation he has nothing else to do but hope for a miracle. It’s not till the end that we find out Peyton has been dead throughout most of the story after breaking his neck from being hung.
Throughout literary history, one of the most amazing mysteries that still lingers in great literary minds today is about Ambrose Gwinett Bierce. He disappeared in the early 1900s never to be found again. He is remarkably remembered by his literary works of sarcasm and illusion. Throught his lasting life he wrote many fascinating short stories that reflected his experiences during his time as a soldier in combat during the American Civil War. His two most famous works being “Killed at Resaca” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek”. Through the use of war-like scenarios, sarcasm and the use of personification, Ambrose Bierce implies them all in his two most famous short stories of his time. “ Killed At Resaca and “An Occurrence At Owl Creek”.
Bierce begins his story in Northern Alabama at Owl Creek Bridge, looking in on a man bound in ropes and a noose surrounded by soldiers sporting weapons and Federal Army uniforms. The dead man standing is a civilian, described as a planter and a gentleman, the kind one would
Ambrose Bierce weaves a tale of intrigue and captivation, by using shifts of voice and time in the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge�. In the first four paragraphs, Bierce begins the story using third person, and in this point of view, he creates reality. We can view the situation and all aspects while it is written in third person; we know precisely what is going on, we know it is real. Near the end of the fourth paragraph, the author shifts cleverly from third person to limited omniscient. After having us view the story in third person, Bierce transfers from reality, to the main characters' thought processes, having us view Peyton's thoughts and dreams also as reality. "He looked a moment at his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet." (P.67) it is here where Bierce shifts and starts to mislead us, by using Peyton Farquhar's thought processes as a filter. It is a clever shift, because in this moment, we are getting closer to the time of Farquhar's death, and we have previously read reality.
The short story starts by creating curiosity with the revelation that a man will be hung in the owl creek bridge. At that moment the reader does not know the reasons for which the man will be sentenced. In the second section, the name of the man who will be hanged is mentioned, the motives for his crime and how he was captured. The final section illustrates the struggle Peyton Farquhar was facing and the events that went through your mind at that moment. He imagined/dream that he escape and peaceful return to their home. But the reality is another and his life ends in darkness and silence. (Bierce 201-209)
This further emphasizes the brutal reality and evil the war has brought about. This scene comes about as a Union soldier traps a Confederate scout and personally convicted Fahrquhar and sentenced him to hanging. the narrator’s capturer is viewed as inherently evil. The capturer, Peyton Fahrquhar, teases the man and talks to him before finally hanging him. The main character has an illusion of where he escapes, and eventually Peyton Fahrquhar is the one hanged under Owl Creek Bridge at the end of the story. The irony in the story is very well portrayed, for in the narrator’s illusion he sees his capturer hanged under the bridge instead of him. The irony of this situation intertwines with the symbolism of the bridge itself. The bridge represents death in this story, because of the fact the narrator is hanged there. He knows his death is inevitable, and welcomes it when he realizes he cannot escape, even in his illusion. Not only is the bridge symbolic for death, but it also is beneficial for the reader to picture the scene in which the story takes place. Bierce provides a vivid description of the bridge, with the deep blue river rushing beneath it, so that the reader may picture the narrator’s predicament and what he sees from his point of view. In his illusion, the narrator sees and explains his capturer being the one hanged, saying, “Peyton Fahrquhar was dead;
Peyton Farquhar is the main character in Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek, a narrative about Farquhar’s eventual hanging for his support of the confederate army during the civil war. The fractured nature of the narrative allows the plot to culminate at a one point where the final connection is made. Peyton Farquhar’s eventual death allows for a window into his final moments on earth as a living being. Moving through his mind alongside him as he escapes death and makes his way through the woods to his wife and children illustrates Farquhar’s unwavering faithfulness to his family, even when facing death. His duty to support his family is both consciously and unconsciously his first priority. His escape was not just an attempt at survival driven by human instinct, but rather a commitment to return to his beloved family, the first priority of Farquhar’s life. A commitment so strong that his will to return to his family surpasses all logic and basic instinct even when it is solely a construct of the mind. One of Farquhar’s strongest feelings, his abhorrence for the Union army, does not enter his mind during his escape. This is especially remarkable since this group is responsible for permanently removing Farquhar from his family’s life. This is evident in Farquhar’s final thoughts before being hanged, his only apparent reason for escape, returning home to his family, and the journey he perseveres through to return home before his true fate is revealed.
In the fictional short story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the author Ambrose Bierce does a superior job of making the mind of a reader wonder. Throughout the story, the reader is able to watch and experience the hanging of a local plantation owner Peyton Farquhar. The story contains three parts that show the present, a flash back to the past, and into an altered reality of Farquhar’s “getaway.” The story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” demonstrates the theme of how the nature of time is free-flowing. Bierce uses three elements of fiction to successfully support the story in its free flow of time. Ambrose Bierce uses the setting, point of view, and plot structure to help organize the theme and the story’s unique elements.
In the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, tells the story of Peyton Farquar before and during his life. Just as the rope tightens on his neck,