It is apparent to all readers of "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" that there is no possible way for the main character, Peyton Farquhar, to possibly experience all the details of the plot and have every detail be true, but does this matter?
To read this story can be somewhat irritating to the reader who wants to know exactly what is happening to the main character of this short story. One may have to reread a line and think to oneself, "Is he going to make it back to the wife and kids?" or "What is that even possible?" Honestly, it should not matter what is happening to the main character. It only matters what the main character thinks is happening to the main character.
There is no way Peyton was strangled, fell into a river, and then thought it would be a shame to get shot as well. I believe (if this were a true story) that Peyton may have possibly been strangled, and then the hopes, prayers, and images in his head were truly what he needed to get through the hanging. These hopes of seeing his wife and children again were true, they just did not truly happen. The brave thoughts of out swimming bullets of the soilders that witnessed his death may have made him "take it like a man." If a truth or a lie helps you get by, wouldn't you believe in it?
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