Ambrose Bierce, the Bitter Bierce
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Lets consider Ambrose Bierce's work in american literature. One of my favorite pieces of his work is "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Let's see how this story reinforces the argument that Bierce is defiantly one of the US's greatest authors. In the beginning of the story we see a man standing on a bridge with his hands tied waiting to be executed by soldiers of the North. The character suddenly hears a ringing noise and thinks about how he could escape from his noose. We finish the section with the men given the ok to execute. We then cut to a different scene and learn that the man in question, a Mr. Farquhar, always wanted to serve the south but was unable to due to some kind of handicap. He caches word that the north is on the move and learns that one could easily destroy the bridge into the area. We then cut to the execution were we see Mr. Farquhar make his escape after he is dropped from the bridge, something went wrong and the noose didn't hold. He runs and makes it to his family but he feels a sharp pain in his neck and everything goes white. In reality he died at Owl Creek Bridge. This is an amazing story with an awesome surprise ending. Lets look at how Mr. Bierce pulled of the amazing story. Lets consider one of the many themes in the story. One of the most prominent is the allusion of illusion and reality. As readers we truly believed that the man escaped but in the end it was an illusion. This make one wonder how much of this story was an illusion or a really. This also makes us wonder about illusions in our lives. There is also a great deal of symbolism in this story. An example would be the driftwood he sees flowing down the river this represents his impending doom in that he cannot escape and float down the river. There are many more themes and symbolic items in this story. I recommend you read it and see for yourself just how impressive this story is. The nature of the story is exactly what makes Ambrose a great American Author.
Link to story:http://americanliterature.com/author/ambrose-bierce/short-story/an-occurrence-at-owl-creek-bridge
Image fromhttp://www.returnofkings.com/52669/an-occurrence-at-owl-creek-bridge-on-the-beauty-of-life#prettyPhoto/2/
Bret, I am so glad that you chose to write about this story! I have not read this in years! I remember feeling a sense of happiness for Mr. Farquhar because I truly thought that he had escaped death. There must be something inside the reader that desires this man to overcome his predicament. This shows how creative Ambrose Bierce was in his works. He does a wonderful job at creating an illusion for the reader. Unexpected twists make a piece of literature memorable and entertaining.
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