An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
STORY SUMMARY
Set during the American Civil War, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” opens with a Southern planter named Peyton Farquhar standing on a railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. The narrative is divided into three parts:
• Part I: The story begins in medias res, with detailed descriptions of the execution preparations. Farquhar stands blindfolded with a noose around his neck.
• Part II: A flashback reveals how Farquhar, a civilian Confederate sympathizer, was deceived by a Union scout posing as a Confederate soldier. The scout tricks him into attempting to sabotage Owl Creek Bridge, which leads to his capture.
• Part III: As Farquhar is hanged, the rope appears to break, plunging him into the water. He escapes, swimming downstream, dodging bullets, and fleeing through the forest toward home. He sees his wife waiting at the gate.
Just as he is about to embrace her, the story returns to brutal reality: Farquhar is dead. The entire escape was a hallucination in the moments before his death.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Narrative Structure and Perspective
Bierce’s manipulation of time and perspective is central to the story’s power. The shift from external, objective narration (Part I), to flashback (Part II), to a deeply subjective, stream-of-consciousness narrative (Part III), lulls the reader into experiencing Farquhar’s imagined escape as real. The shocking twist—revealing the illusion—forces a re-evaluation of everything that preceded it.
Themes
• Illusion vs. Reality: The story explores the human mind’s capacity for illusion in the face of death. Farquhar’s imagined escape is not just wish fulfillment—it’s a psychological defense against annihilation.
• The Subjectivity of Time: Bierce collapses time in Part III, suggesting how the mind can stretch seconds into what feels like hours. This anticipates modernist concerns with psychological time (cf. stream of consciousness
in Virginia Woolf or James Joyce).
• War and Death: Bierce, a Civil War veteran, exposes the brutality and absurdity of war. Farquhar’s romanticism and illusion are destroyed by the cold efficiency of his execution.
Symbolism
• Owl Creek Bridge: A liminal space between life and death, illusion and reality. It functions as both a literal site and a metaphysical threshold.
• The Driftwood and the Water: Symbols of time and freedom. In Farquhar’s fantasy, water becomes the medium of liberation—but it is also the element into which his body falls at the moment of death.
Style and Technique
• Realism with Psychological Depth: Bierce’s prose is precise and objective in the opening and closing sections but veers into sensory intensity and distortion during the hallucination. His use of vivid imagery, shifting narration, and careful pacing enhances the story’s twist ending.
• Irony: The entire story hinges on dramatic irony. Farquhar believes in his escape; readers, too, are seduced into the fantasy, only to be shocked by the harsh truth. Bierce
critiques romanticized views of war and heroism, showing the mind’s fragility under pressure.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How does Bierce’s manipulation of time and structure affect your perception of Farquhar and the narrative?
2. In what ways is Farquhar a tragic figure? Does he deserve sympathy?
3. How does “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” challenge or reinforce traditional war narratives?
4. What role does sensory detail play in shaping the reader’s experience of Farquhar’s imagined escape?