“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) His writing and philosophy were shaped by his experiences as a Union officer in the Civil War. Had an unsentimental, pessimistic view of the world. Captured the cruelty and futility of the war and indifference of death, earning him the nickname “Bitter Bierce.”

Point of View Is the perspective or vantage point from which a story is told. Omniscient POV – the narrator is an observer of all that happens. Third-Person Limited POV – readers’ information is limited to what a single characters thinks, feels, and observes.

Stream of Consciousness Reports thoughts and ideas the way the human mind experiences them – in short bursts, without full sentences, and often without clear or logical connections.

Chronological Order Is the order of events. Bierce’s story jumps backward and forward in time. Authors alter chronological order to create dramatic effects of one kind or another.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Creates a compelling depiction of the Civil War hanging of a Southern planter who has attempted (and failed at) an act of sabotage. Setting – a railroad bridge in Northern Alabama during the Civil War Characters - Peyton Farquhar, a Southern plantation owner; Mrs. Farquhar, his wife; Union Soldiers; Union Scout

Characters Peyton Farquhar: Southern plantation owner who is to be hanged by Union soldiers as punishment for his attempt (or suspected attempt) to destroy Owl Creek Bridge.  Mrs. Farquhar: Farquhar's wife. Union Soldiers: They include executioners, sentinels, and overseeing officers on the bridge Union Scout: Soldier who wears Confederate gray when he rides onto Farquhar's plantation (in a flashback) and asks for a drink of water. He puts the idea of burning down the Owl Creek Bridge in his mind.

Visions vs. Reality “Occurrence” plays games with vision and reality, on two levels The apparent Confederate soldier is in fact a “Federal [Union] scout” Farquhar’s apparent escape is only imaginary The confusion is not only Farquhar’s but the reader’s as well

Structure of the Story Section I: Present; Realism: Military Ritual of Hanging; hint of subjectivity/fantasy Section II: Flashback; Realism/Satire: Framing of Peyton Farquhar by Union spy Section III: PresentFuture; Fantasy; ends realistically in present

Realism: Military Ritual Section 1; ¶1-2: Bierce establishes texture of reality through close description of execution scene: bodily positions, military rank, physical equipment, etc. ¶2, end: the formality of the scene associated with Death ¶3: description of protagonist appeals to historical reality and reader’s sympathy: “kindly expression”

Realism: Framing of Peyton Farquhar Section II; ¶8-17: Southern gentry portrayed through Bierce’s Northern satiric perspective: “Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause” (¶8) “the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war” (¶8) “Mrs. Farquhar was only too happy to serve him with her own white hands” (¶9) Ultimate irony: Soldier was a Union spy

The Beginning of Fantasy (1) Section 1; ¶4, end: subjectivity enters narrative: Narrator’s detached intellect: Time appears to slow down: “stream racing madly” “sluggish stream” Slowing of his watch, increase in volume

More Examples of Fantasy (2) Section I; ¶6: “Flash” of thought expressed as words: “If I could free my hands. . . .” Section III; ¶18: loss of consciousness; reawakening “ages later, it seemed”; pain of hanging, “unaccompanied by thought” Thought restored: impression that rope has broken and he is in stream ¶19: Detached from himself: “watched” his hands free themselves and remove noose; he surfaces ¶20: Senses “preternaturally keen and alert”; observes natural world Ripples of stream Leaves of trees, insects Dewdrops on blades of grass Gnats, dragon flies, water spiders, fish

More Examples of Fantasy (3) ¶21: Sees his executioners: “their forms gigantic” ¶22: One of sentinels fires rifle; Farquhar sees his “gray eye” looking into the rifle sights: an impossible perception Note: Farquhar’s own eye is gray (¶3) ¶25: Bullets fired; one lodges in his neck and “he snatched it out” (unrealistic detail) ¶30: cannon fired

Re-emergence of Reality ¶35: Hints that Farquhar is still in the noose: Neck pain Eyes congested, unable to close Tongue swollen, thrust out Feet suspended above ground

Final Fantasy, Then Reality ¶36: Morning: approaches home Wife standing to meet him: “fresh and cool and sweet,” “smile of ineffable joy” Farquhar “springs forwards with extended arms”; “stunning blow to back of neck”; “blinding white light”; “darkness and silence” ¶37: “Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge.”

Conclusion “Occurrence” is a psychological study of consciousness and its struggle against death Like the other stories in this section, it portrays a man lost in a journey beyond the home, trying to regain his place Like “Rip Van Winkle,” there is a political dimension: here the Civil War Southern Plantation life portrayed as fantasy

Theme In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," there is no glory or romance in war; it is a brutal exercise in which human lives have no value and death becomes merely an “occurrence.” Reality destroys illusions, and during a war, illusions are deadly. Under martial law, punishment is swift, efficient, and pitiless, carried out with cold military precision. The formal conventions of warfare attempt to imbue death with dignity, but they do not mitigate its horror. At the moment of death, the fear of dying and the will to live distort reality, providing a psychological escape from the pain of the inevitable.

How to use “Hang” Hang derives from Old English and means to be attached from above without support below. This is one of the core meanings, as shown in the sentence: The picture hangs on the wall. However, there are several other related uses, for example: To let droop or fall – hang your head in shame. To fall in a certain way – this costume hangs well. To pay attention to – I hang on your every word. To hold on tightly – My daughter is hanging onto my skirt. A way of doing something – She couldn’t get the hang of it. To be oppressive – a cloud of gloom hangs over him. The regular past tense of hang is hung, which would be used in all the examples listed above. However, there is one difference when it comes to hanging someone by the neck. In this case the past tense is hanged which means killed by hanging.