Bierce’s “An occurrence at Owl Creek
Bridge” is a story that uses extensive and carefully articulated detail to skew
the concept of both time and reality, for both its protagonist and the reader.
The story takes place during the civil war. The protagonist, Petyon Farquhar,
was a planter of a respected family in Alabama. As such, he is a fan of the
confederacy and an avid supporter of the confederate army, acting as “the
character of a civilian who was, at heart a soldier” This description suggests
that Farquhar would perhaps like to be a soldier, and seems himself as such.
(Bierce 2). It is because of this that Farquhar decides to attempt to burn down
Owl Creek Bridge, which is controlled by the federate army. He received a tip
from a confederate soldier, who was actually a union spy. To that end, it
should come as no shock that he is thwarted, captured, and sentenced to hang,
the place in which our story both begins and ends.
My favorite thing about this story
is the way in which it is written. Bierce uses carefully constructed detail in
order articulate disconnect between fantasy and reality, as well as skew the
concept of time. The first piece of evidence that suggests to us that Farquhar
may be slipping from reality is the description of his watch, where it states “the
intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening.
With their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness.
They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he
heard was the ticking of his watch” (Bierce 2). In this moment, Farquhar’s
perception of time and reality is skewed, as is our own. Everything that
follows takes place in a slow, distorted state of time, which is, in reality,
the few seconds it takes for Farquhar to fall to his death. An escape is then
described in beautiful detail, all of which turns out to be a product of
Farquhar’s imagination, occurring within seconds. The entire vision Farquhar
has of escaping his fate at Owl Creek Bridge is another representation of a
split between reality and fiction. It is possible that the escape is
demonstrative of the kind of person or soldier Farquhar would like to be. This
is also the reason he attempted to burn the bridge in the first place.
However, there are a number of
things, disguised in the language of the text, that imply a connection between
reality and fiction. These connections serve to make the disconnections
identifiable. The first would be the sensory details of the story. For example,
when Farquhar falls and breaks free of the rope in his vision, he describes, in
extraordinary detail, the pain in his neck. He states “Keen, poignant agonies
seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and
limbs” (Bierce 3). (The whole passage is too long to use). The pain in his neck
is a manifestation in his delusion of what is happening to his body in reality,
though it is cleverly disguised as a sensory detail of the writing. Another
detail that implies both a connection AND disconnection between reality and
fiction is when his hands are described. It states “He was not conscious of the
effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist appraised him that he was trying to free
his hands. He gave the struggle his attention, as an idler might observe the
feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome” (Bierce 3). This statement
demonstrates the way in which Farquhar is, in reality, not actually making an
effort to free his hands. It is a subconscious disconnect between his thoughts
and movements that suggest a disconnect between fantasy and reality. All of
these details function to make the quote of the story I found most
interesting.. well.. all the more interesting. In the very first line of part
three, prior to his vision of escape, I believe it references the union of both
Farquhar’s fantasy and reality (key words: as one). It states “As Peyton
Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he had lost consciousness
and was, as one, already dead”
(Bierce 3).
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