An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge

This was the first real long story that we read for this project, and it was actually a pretty interesting story at that too. It used some elements of literature that we have not previously experienced in this project thus far. They used both a flashback and a flash forward in the story. The story opens with a guy about to be hanged at a bridge. So from the very beginning it is both interesting and sad. I mean I do not want anyone to be hanged unless they are a real bad guy. Anyways, this story had a bit of truth in it because the author Ambrose Bierce actually has fought in the Civil War. It was just sad because he was about to be hanged and he had nobody that was going to come to rescue him and he was just left there to die(Beirce). I wish someone would at least be there for him, I know I would want someone to be there for me if I was about to die. And his poor wife probably thinks everything is perfect and dandy and that they will live happily ever after, but that is just not going to happen. The soldiers that killed Farqahar were really mean because they had bribed him to do the crime that he committed to start with. It is not fair for him to be put to death because for pete's sake he was bribed in the first place! The second part then goes back to the prior events before the hanging and during part two is describes all of these things(Renfro). A memorable twist at the end of the story when it is revealed that Farquhar has imagined his entire escape in the brief time between his being pushed from the bridge and the noose's breaking his neck during the hanging(Renfro). It is a a psychological story. It reminds me of the pit and the pendulum in a way. He was in the civil war and he was in the Union which means that he did not want slavery and was for equality just like Emmerson.

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce. Read It Now for Free! (Homepage)." Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.

Renfro, Y. P. "'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0691&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 16, 2012).