An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Essay

As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck a blind white light blazes all around him with a sound corresponding the shock of a back endnonthen all is darkness and tranquillity. Ambrose Bierce has a unique way of captivating readers state of wariness and it is perfectly memorializen in his short-circuit story An Occurrence at motor horn Creek Bridge. The story tells about a man in southern aluminum during the courtly War, which is about to be hanged by a group of federation soldiers.This man to be hanged is identified as a gentleman named Peyton Farquhar who attempted to take down the Owl Creek Bridge, the same oneness they are standing on. Suddenly, the rotary snaps and he falls into the river where he close toway manages to swim ashore in order to escape from the Union soldiers. As he pulls himself ashore, he at present starts the long journey home. After walkway all day and night without feeling the roadway beneath his feet he arrives home and as he is about to hug his wife, he feels a strong pain in his neck and hears a loud noise.Farquhar was now dead by hanging, and all of his escape was unspoilt a intake of his. It is set in the Owl Creek Bridge in Alabama where Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged early in the morning. The whole story happens just in one day, even though the author mentions flashbacks of Peytons past. On one side of the creek there is forest and on the separate is a group of Union Soldiers. There is a cannon secrecy in a line of trees and the soldiers are preparing to execute Farquhar with a rope around his neck.There is only one main character in the story and three secondary characters. Peyton Farquhar is a pl emmetation owner who comes from a wealthy family from the south. However he is a strong buy ater of the southerly cause. He is arrested and is to be hanged by the Union soldiers because he attempted to destroy Owl Creek Bridge so that the Union soldiers wouldnt elimina te by his hometown. There is also Mrs. Farquhar, Peytons wife who was a nice but significant role in the story. She is the one who alerts Peyton of the arrival of the Union soldiers to their town.The groups of Union soldiers include executioners, a Lieutenant who gives the final orders there are sentinels, officers and also soldiers along the shore. There is also a Union Scout, which is mentioned in one of Farquhars flashback, who is a soldier that rides onto Farquhars plantation enquire for a glass of water wearing Confederate gray. He by and by on turns out to be the one who warns the Union soldiers about Farquhars plan to burn down Owl Creek Bridge. The story is divide in three parts.None of them are written in offshoot person. Most of the story is told in a third person prove of view. The storyteller can observe events but cannot enter the estimate of ant character and cannot change ant of his or her thoughts. However in some parts of the story, the narration changes to o mniscient third person point of view. We recognize this because the author takes the reader inside Farquhars top dog to show how his mind interprets reality. When it comes to talking about the theme, Peyton Farquhar denies reality. He avoids it.This is why he enters into the delusional land of mind. While being hanged he dreams that he escapes after the weight of hes body breaks the rope and he swims to safety, and long after he returns to his home. Even though this dream lasts only seconds, in Farquhars mind it lasts the whole day. This could be a way of the author to say that Farquhar refuses to acquiesce the reality that is going on during the civil war, where even gentlemen like him who have a bun in the oven the Southern cause can be victims of what the barbarous Union soldiers can do.The story was published in 1891 right after the civil war in the United States of America. Bierce tries to express how the cruelty took place during the years of the Civil war, how slaves wer e treated and condemned. By Farquhars character Bierce expresses how anybody who opposed the Union to support the Southern cause was seen as a rebellious person no matter his social position. There is a controversy between critics when it comes to categorizing this short story into a literary form. Some critics say that the story is a narration it has a beginning, a middle and an end.However some critics imagine that because of the ending, the story is more of a thriller, suspense or even mystery. Bierce uses a unique way to shift from different tones during the story. He changes from an authorial practical voice, to a fantastic tone in order to immerse into Farquhars mind. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a truly interesting story with a surprising twist. Ambrose Bierce uses many different techniques to show the reader how brutal and savage the Civil war was like and how lot was treated. This short story changed the American culture.