Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce was a quite disturbing story. When I first read it, I got pulled into the romantic mind of the main character Peyton Farquar. The tale is set in civil war Alabama and Peyton is a well-to-do plantation owner. He thinks of himself as a respectful southerner who would do anything to serve the south, when in-fact, he refused to serve in the army feeling that it was for lesser men.

Regardless of his view of himself, the story begins with the beginning of his death. He was to be hung on the bridge, an execution of the utmost pain. The perspective that the story is told from is third person omniscient, and describes a cold and unfeeling bridge with soldiers preparing the noose and guarding the ends of the bridge. Once the noose is around his neck though, it switches into the thoughts of Peyton.


He becomes distracted by the ticking of his watch. He doesn’t know what the sound is but it overwhelms him. Then slowly his thoughts turn into a vivid escape. Somehow he manages to bring the reader with him off the bridge and into the water, escaping the eminent death a waiting him. This illusion is pretty well conveyed and his escape quite believable. When he gets close to his house though, he is almost in the arms of his wife when he is jerked back into reality.

The next line tells you that he is now dead, hanging from the bridge, as he had been throughout. It was rather difficult to read that part and not cringe at the thought of him swinging there back and forth like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. I personally had creepy images in my head after reading this story and was somewhat upset that I didn't pick up on the clues that he was indeed dead, while reading the escape. I wished that somehow he had managed to do the impossible.

However, as a reader I did just what Bierce, in his realistic writing style, wanted me to do and got caught up in the romantic ideas of Peyton: only to have them dominated by the true reality of the situation. All in all it was a very well-written piece that was definitely thought provoking and is an excellent example of realistic writing.