Spoiler Alert!!!! Don't read this if you haven't read the story.
In An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce shows us, the reader, that the truth is entirely subjective.
The biggest example of this is, of course, the entire last part of the story. Mr. Farquhar imagines his own great escape and his triumphant return to his home and to his family in the mere milli-seconds before his death, or maybe even in the actual throes of his death. To him that was his truth. His last conscious thoughts were of this escape and to him it was all real and was all happening. In his subjective truth, he never died. To the military officers on the bridge and to the platoon watching from the hillside below all that happened was a rebel, caught in treason, was hung for his crime.
There are other smaller examples of this in the story. The one that most caught my attention was the grey-clad rebel turned federal scout. This young man, seemingly a confederate cavalryman, road up to the Farquhar plantation and asked for water to quench his thirst. He chatted with the unsuspicious Mr. Farquhar, drank some water and rode away. To the Farquhars he would always be just a simple confederate soldier who stopped by for a bit of refreshment.
However, as we come to find out, this soldier is actually a Federal Scout. A yankee spy riding through enemy territory, most likely to survey the resources and the resistance his commanders were likely to encounter once they had begun their advance. This young man, although unlikely to be implicated, actually caused Mr. Farquhar's undignified and untimely demise.
The soldiers truth, and the Farquhars' truth are completly different and totally subject to assumptions. The planters assumed that a grey-clad horseman was 'on their side', and thus created their own truth.
Bierce seems to very acurately represent that one man's truth is another man's lie.
I agree with you completely on the fact that Peyton imaginary escape was the truth. Also, you made an interesting point that he never died in his reality. My interpretation in your last statement, "Bierce seems to very accurately represent that one man's truth is another man's lie. " Is that Peyton's truth is a lie to the military to actual reality and that "the grey-clad rebel turned federal scout" lie is in his own identity that led to Peytons' demise. Though I only saw truth in Peyton's imagination, you brought up another truth of the federal scout. I never really saw it like that but it's great that you showed truth on both of the sidelines. I am going to say this when read over both of the truths again they are both about deception. One is to oneself(Peyton) and the other to harm another person (Scout). Anyway I agree with your perception of truth on this piece of literature.
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