An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Introduction

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is supposedly the best work of short fiction written by Ambrose Bierce. The sense of descriptive writing, time and the plot of the story make it very worthy of a literary analysis.

Discussion

The story is about Peyton Farquhar, who is not a confederate soldier but the Union Army is hanging him for trying to destroy the rail road bridge at Owl Creek. At the time of his hanging, while the noose is round his neck, the writer makes the reader believe that the rope somehow breaks ...