"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce that was first published in 1890. It is a psychological thriller that tells the story of Peyton Farquhar, a wealthy plantation owner in Alabama who is sentenced to death by hanging for trying to sabotage a bridge used by Union soldiers during the American Civil War.
The story begins with Farquhar standing on the Owl Creek Bridge, with a noose around his neck and Union soldiers standing guard. As the soldiers prepare to hang him, Farquhar's thoughts wander and he begins to daydream about escaping his fate. In his mind, he manages to break free from the noose and swim to shore, where he is able to evade his pursuers and make his way back to his family.
As he travels, Farquhar encounters many obstacles and dangers, including a venomous snake and a group of Union soldiers. Despite these challenges, he remains determined to reach his home and reunite with his wife and children.
As he nears his destination, Farquhar's daydream becomes increasingly vivid and detailed, until it seems almost real. However, just as he reaches the safety of his home, he is suddenly jerked back to reality as the noose tightens around his neck and he falls to his death.
In the end, it is revealed that Farquhar's escape was only a figment of his imagination and that he died instantly when the rope snapped his neck. The story is a powerful meditation on the nature of reality and the power of the human mind to conjure up alternative worlds and scenarios in times of crisis.
Overall, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a thought-provoking and suspenseful tale that explores themes of life, death, and the human condition. Its vivid and immersive writing style draws the reader into Farquhar's desperate plight, making for a truly memorable and haunting reading experience.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce Plot Summary
He goes into the forest and starts walking with the sun guiding his way. And though the ending is surprising, the process of reading is not a confusing, unclear one. The short story an Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge takes place during the civil war in the United States. He imagines himself being freed after the rope breaks and he finds his way home to his family but it was all imagined. In great difficulty, he manages to fling himself onto the gravel of the Southside. But the need to breath catches up- as he gasps for air, the shots start firing. Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Summary
Farquhar is dead, his broken body actually swinging from the side of the Owl Creek bridge. And in this ideal future, he regains full control of his own physicality. When the sergeant steps away, the man will fall towards the creek and the rope will break his neck. After a moment of unconsciousness, Farquhar becomes aware again. He sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, and plunged into the forest. He refuses to be shot, thinking it is far worse than being hung and drowned. He was a captain.
A Summary and Analysis of Ambrose Bierceâs âAn Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridgeâ
Meanwhile he did what he could. Nevertheless, there is a difference in a way each writing addresses those characteristics. He feels a sharp pain in his neck and pain throughout his limbs and comes to the sudden realization that the rope has broken and that he is in the stream. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter. And he stands to lose a lovely young wife. The soldier told Peyton that the Union forces were making inroads in their territories, repairing the railroads and constructing a fort near the Owl Creek bridge, thirty miles away. Although, when he arrives, the boys, excluding Ralph, Piggy, Sam, and Eric, viciously attacked him and unfortunately end up killing him.
