An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
by Barry Wright
Essay: An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
Pages: 10
Rating: 3 stars
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Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" seems to have been written to skillfully play with the minds
of its readers. The ending of "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" can prompt the question, "What just happened?"
Present becomes the past, gets lost in a sort of dream world and then comes back to the present sense again.
Bierce's infamous character Peyton Farquhar is known to raise eyebrows just by the mention of his name.
Farquhar's grizzly end was due to a clever disguise by a Federal Scout, but exactly how clever was it? What if this
entire ordeal was planned in such a way to have Farquhar killed on purpose?
As quoted from the short story, "Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly respected
Alabama family." (Bierce, Section II) Since Farquhar is obviously experienced in his work and does a good job at it
too, then people must know about him. Coming from a respected family also puts his name out there. In today's
modern society, the wealthy and famous have their every move tracked down to the tee. If Peyton Farquhar family
tree is one that is well known then most people in the village must be aware of his whereabouts. "Being a slave
owner and like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to
the Southern cause". (Bierce Section II) The phrase "being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician" is
Bierce's own use of an aphorism, a tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion. Bierce also uses a great deal of
imagery, not only in this section but the entire short story as well, to put a strong visual into the reader's mind of
how the war is being fought. The fact that Bierce considers a slave owner to be synonymous w...
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