Reality And Death In 'An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge'

Bierce had every reader on the edge of their seat awaiting Peyton Farquhar success in his escape. “If I could free my hands, I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream"(399). Peyton Farquhar thought this in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” as he awaited his execution. It is the start of his unconscious plans to escape his death and it highlights the important theme of reality verses illusion, the death, and the deception that leads to Peyton Farquhar’s death. Ambrose Bierce "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," written in 1890 is about a man named Peyton Farquhar whose escape is widely believable. Although this short story is fiction, it is suspenseful and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.

It is very possible for the reader to be so wrapped up in the desire for Peyton's escape. The story was told as if he were escaping, "He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands." statements such as this one gave off a direct thought that escaping was exactly what he was doing. The story goes on to give detailed information about his struggle to free himself and his efforts to make it home. By the end of the story the reader is still attached to the idea that this escape was in fact real and successful. The story starts off in Alabama around the Civil War time, where Farquhar is placed on a bridge with his executioners as he awaits his death. In Sharon Talley’s article “Visions of the Night” she suggest that Bierce was obsessed with death, and the Civil War due to him himself being a civil war soldier. She also felt that he understood the importance of dreams and their connection to the unconscious, most importantly the fear of death.

In “Ow...

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... (405). The reader took the details and formed them with their initial thoughts of escape, never putting the context clues together and realizing that he actually never escaped at all.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” shows to be an interesting, dramatic breath taking story with a hopeful main character who was determined to not live in the moment of his current situation. Bierce did a great job of turning Peyton Farquhar’s illusions into reality for the reader’s. Peyton’s illusions came from the fact that he could not face his reality of his death and this was the only way he could cope with it, his psychological succeeds at everything his physical could not. Throughout the entire story, it is nearly impossible to draw the line between what is real and what is being made up by Peyton, the reader is totally submerged into his illusions, deeming them as reality.