Just Like the Story, This Post is Not Exciting

In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Ambrose Bierce takes the reader on what is supposed to be a wild adventure, only to reveal that the hope and escape from death only takes place in the dying man's mind. I found the concept of the story to be brilliant. A man who is about to be hanged jumps into the river below him and escapes drowning, gun fire, and cannon balls, only to die just as he reaches his all-too-good-to-be-true home.

As I have said, I believe that the bare bones of the story are exceedingly interesting, however, I was aware that I was being taken for the proverbial ride the entire time. I never once believed that Farquhar--the man to be hanged--had actually escaped asphyxiation because the prose of the story was so detached. Bierce's story telling makes Farquhar as much of an idle spectator as the reader. His adrenaline should be rushing as he defies death and struggles for his life and family, but things are not as they should be. He is very apparently on the outside looking in, which is true, but not a believable mind state for someone in his situation. I would have believed Farquar was diving to avoid bullets if the language had been more urgent and less like that of a bystander.

Bierce attempts to throw readers off his trail of diseat by including a very unrealistic hallucination Farquhar has of returning to his happy home and seeing is lovely wife. After all, who is going to suspect a delusion with in a delusion. One is expected to think, “Well, he's dreaming now, that must be the catch.” This tactic falls flat. Not only did it not persuade me that Farquhar' escape was real, it felt tacked into the story without any forethought.

“Owl Creek” is an interesting read, but it isn't a convincing story because Bierce's writing style does not create a believable atmosphere for the events we are told are taking place.

Right Before Your Eyes

Man’s perception of boundaries within the real world quickly changes when he realizes that the real world is being taken from his hands. Upon reading “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, I was slightly confused at the obviously exaggerated details of Farquhar’s various dramatic escapes. It then made sense at the very end when the narrator tells us that Farquhar is actually dead. People often wonder what it would feel like to know that you were about to die and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” opened that door of possibilities. I think that if one’s fate were obvious, they would try to end their life as best as they knew how. This is why people who find that they have terminal illnesses go sky-diving or choose to spend as much time with family as possible. Priorities are realigned, and people try to fit as much life as they can into their last days. Farquhar experienced this kind of last-minute readjustment, but in a very different way. Farquhar had no choice in how his life were going to end, so instead of changing the way he lived in the last moments, he had this fantastic vision of how it could have been. Rather than resign himself to the fact that he was going to die, his reality was completely altered, until, in his mind, he was escaping his fate. Though he must have known that there was no true escape, Farquhar died believing that he had beaten the odds, and had found a way through it all. In order to avoid his hopeless situation, Farquhar simply created a new one.

What You Think About Before You Die

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is not so much about lies as it is about desperation and the depersonalized state of death.

The desperate mind of a dying man creates an elaborate fantasy escape to preoccupy itself for the final seconds of his life. At the beginning of the story, the narrator talks about how impersonal death is, that all kinds of men can die, even gentlemen. This idea is amplified by how much time is spent discussing the soldiers’ positions and postures, even the methodical way they fire into the water after Peyton thinks he’s fallen into the river. He’s standing there, bound and waiting to die, and he’s watching his executioners acting like they’ve done this a million times before, and they have, but it’s never been him before. You hear about people being executed, about spies and traitors, but it’s different when it’s you. It was easy for him to plot against the Union sentinels in the privacy of his own home, under the porch shade enjoying a glass of water with his wife and a young soldier, but when he actually has to take the punishment for his crime, he doesn’t know how to handle it. So his mind provides a different death, one motivated and controlled that ends how he would want it to. It’s tragic, and it makes being hanged easier and harder on him.

Ambiguity in Reality

Bierce’s "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" completely violates and distorts the division between reality and fantasy, leaving the truth totally ambiguous.

Peyton Farquhar 's excessive loyalty and devotion to his family and his land and unfair execution instantly earned my sympathy. He's the stereotypical good ol' Southern boy. Thus, being an all too trusting (and maybe even a little gullible) reader, my delight could barely be contained at his sudden and miraculous escape. I was never tempted with skepticism at Farqhuar's suddenly incredible immunity and unbelievable recovery. These superhuman traits never struck me as falsities or fantasies. However, the fantasy of Farquhar's escape was literally too good to be true.

Bierce's deception is so powerful because of his presentation of his character. I believe had Farquhar been an actual criminal with cruel intentions, a reader would instantly suspect the ambiguity in the reality of the situation. Bierce understands the sympathy of readers and takes full advantage of that. Because of this, as the line between reality and fantasy can be easily crossed with little disbelief. Bierce's fierce and detailed story telling intensifies as his reader's mistrust escalates.

Sooo, I Went To Brazil 3 Times This Year and Last Time I Was There I Married a Prince from Narnia

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce 

The greater half of this story was a complete and utter lie, no matter how you look at it. Even if it’s “just a story”, the author lied about the plot throughout the main action of the story.

I think that Ambrose Bierce wrote a story that had a lie within a lie. He wanted the reader to think something was true, part of the story, that, even within the realm of the story, was false; this makes it an attempted deception (attempted, because he chickened out and told the truth at the end). It wasn’t even a proper or justifiable lie, the author was just making up parts that had no truth to them in any context. It’s reminded me of that one really annoying person (everybody knows someone like this) who makes up the most random lies about themselves so that people will believe they’re cool, even though they really have dreadful personalities. Essentially, the author wanted you to think this guy had a really cool and daring escape, even though the poor bastard ended up dying a quick and probably painless death (we wouldn’t know, the author spent more time spinning tales within tales than he did describing the actual death). 

Even though I understand that, yes, this is just a story so it’s all a lie, I really think that it’s ridiculous to tell a story and then say “just kidding, I was shitting you, this is what really happened”.

I can't think of a clever title

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce takes you on a whirl-wind tour of life and death during the throes of Civil War in only a short amount of words. It effectively documents the dangers of hope and imagination while still reaffirming the need for them. The story largely takes place in the mind of a dying man. Peyton Farquar conjures up a means of escape from death, as he stands with a noose around his neck. In his imagination, the rope breaks, and he falls in the river, swimming down stream dodging bullets and cannon fire, runs through the forrest, finally reaching home, only to end up at the end of the aforementioned noose. We as readers do not realize until the very end that it was all in his head. However there are subtle hints. Such as in the title. I doubt that an escape would be categorized as an 'occurrence', but much rather an 'event'. If he did escape, it should have been called "An Event at Owl Creek Bridge". Or perhaps that only makes sense to me. 

I also found it interesting that he dies on the very bridge he intended to destroy, and dies for his intention of doing so. The sound of his watch towards the beginning was also eery, as I'm sure it signified how little time he had left. I guess in the end this story showed that death is only scary to people who have not accepted it as an inevitability. 

I'd also like to suggest to everyone to watch the French short film version of this story, that was shown on an episode of The Twilight Zone in 1964. I think it's on YouTube.

What You Think About Before You Die

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is not so much about lies as it is about desperation and the depersonalized state of death.

The desperate mind of a dying man creates an elaborate fantasy escape to preoccupy itself for the final seconds of his life. At the beginning of the story, the narrator talks about how impersonal death is, that all kinds of men can die, even gentlemen. This idea is amplified by how much time is spent discussing the soldiers’ positions and postures, even the methodical way they fire into the water after Peyton thinks he’s fallen into the river. He’s standing there, bound and waiting to die, and he’s watching his executioners acting like they’ve done this a million times before, and they have, but it’s never been him before. You hear about people being executed, about spies and traitors, but it’s different when it’s you. It was easy for him to plot against the Union sentinels in the privacy of his own home, under the porch shade enjoying a glass of water with his wife and a young soldier, but when he actually has to take the punishment for his crime, he doesn’t know how to handle it. So his mind provides a different death, one motivated and controlled that ends how he would want it to. It’s tragic, and it makes being hanged easier and harder on him.

what's real???

"An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story that definetly plays with your mind. If it wasn't for the point of this course, I would not have expected the major twist at the end. The lie in this story, if thought of another way, does not necessarily have to be a lie; that "second ending" probably served a purpose. The author's intention might have been giving the reader a view into Peyton's afterlife. In movies and tv shows, the shot after a person dies is usually of he/she surviving and having a happy ending. This primarily is for the reader because as a human being, we need to know that the person is going to be ok; that there is some sort of happy ending to the story. Because Peyton was unjustly executed, the author mislead the reader to give him/she a hint of hope. And even though Bierce abruptly exposed the truth at the end, the reader is still left with some satisfaction due to the fact that the second ending was written in the first place.

Bierce's imagery is so vivid and so detailed that he makes it almost impossible to distinguish it from the truth (which I'm sure is his goal). And even though Peyton's escape was like a scene from an action movie --- something that can never happen in real life --- the reader still believes it because they want to. So the question is: does it matter that his survival was a lie? Of course it depends on the reader him/herself, but what is comes down to is if the reader minds that he/she was deceived. Because that's exactly what the author did, he decieved his audience to either get a reaction or to force minds to think more about his story. Then the reader has to wonder if the fact that Peyton dies was real; because if Bierce lied once, what would stop him from doing it again...that's where your imagination has to come into play.

Blinded by the Light

       As I sit here reading this story in the Monroe library in risk of being called a "Monroe Hoe" by my friends, I wonder what was Peyton Farquhar smoking and where could I purchase an eighth. One question I pondered right away was why am I reading this story and what does it have to do with truth. The last line of the story cleared up my wonders, and also presented multiple curiosities that in turn stimulated my thought process. Number one, why would Ambrose Bierce iterate this complex fallacy to then reveal the true nature of the events. I answered that question easily by realizing, "So he could have his story read in an English class geared towards truth and lies." Then I asked myself, "How did I fall for that?"

       Bierce's use of vivid detail tricked me into believing every single word that he fed me, and I'm pretty sure I have read this short story before. I bought every word. Why wouldn't I. The point of a story is to make the reader believe what they are looking at. Bierce takes a chance on concocting this lie and it pays off. I never really even thought that I would be reading a story that was intentionally supposed to trick me. Ignorant or not, it was bliss when I read those last words. I suddenly wondered if M. Night Shyamalan co-authored this work. Interesting options arise when one tip toes the lines between truth and lie.

Death & All of His Friends

In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce tests the limits between "truth" and "lies", forcing the reader to see beyond the apparent reality of Peyton Farquhar.

If there is one universal truth throughout this story, it is that Peyton Farquhar was a man who meant well. He meant well for his daughter, for his wife, and for the South. As for the rest, there is a little more room for interpretation. From the very beginning of the story, Bierce draws the reader in with his incredible attention to detail. It is nearly impossible for the reader not to feel connected to Peyton Farquhar's story of  his great escape. From the feeling of a tightened noose grasping the very fibers of his neck, to the slow and steady movements of a piece of driftwood upon a stream, an outside observer feels connected to these so called “truths”.

In life, it is sometimes easier to believe the lie in order to save someone from the pain of the reality. In Peyton Farquhar’s case this is definitely true. He knew his fate was sealed the minute the noose was around his neck, but who is to blame him for the reality he chose to believe? One of my favorite quotes by anonymous is, “If you create your own reality; nothing is unattainable.” Peyton Faruhar’s reality let him see his wife one more time before his death. It let him defy the odds and push his limits. It let him live his one last great adventure.

One Man's Fact is Another Man's Fiction

In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," shows that the truth in one's imagination can overcome the truth of reality.

In the reality of those watching, Farquhar hung from the bridge meeting the punishment he deserved. However, the realities of the federal soldiers did not match the reality in Farquhar's mind. In the last moments of life Farquhar held on to the one aspect of his being that could not be touched by these soldiers - his imagination.

I can't bring myself to accuse Farquhar of being in denial or getting caught up in his fantasies. His mind escaped to a place where his body couldn't. This story goes to show how powerful the mind is. One can change the face of reality within their own thoughts.

It is a fact that I am afraid of the dark. There is no one who can tell me this isn't true, when all I know, all I am able to accept, is that the dark is a scary and unwelcoming place. If God were to sit Farquhar down and tell him that he died on the bridge, would he believe it? Why should he have to? The man eventually met his death, he should be able to have reached that destination through his own mind's journey.

Fact for some may not be fact for others, but does that necessarily make it untrue?

Alls fair in fact or fiction

I have spent most of this weekend trying to determine what was going on, what was really happening? With this class being called truth lies and literature one has to be cautious of what is fact or fiction between Peyton Faquhar's escape of death or not.

Throughout the story the reader will begin to make assumptions about what they really think is going on or what will occur at owl Creek Bridge. Everyone will want Faquhar to escape his imminent demise especially when the author offers up a bit of hope and "light" when he is drowning in the creek. He is suddenly free or at least the illusion is there. Ambrose Bierce does a great job of alluding to his death as peaceful. Soon his hands are free and then he can breathe again, most people want their afterlife to begin this way, minus the drowning part. I think that here the author is playing with the idea of God and spirituality, some person to save us, lifts us up with his "strength". Although, when first reading this, I personally thought he was being freed. I suppose that's just the optimist in me, but I didn't want to see him die. The author toys with the idea of fact and fiction and is able to balance between reality and imagination.

The fact of this story is that Faquhar does die and does not escape his death but the fiction that no one knows about is this how death really is? Is death this peaceful and if so for everyone? The author makes you think of a lot at the end of the story. Bierce makes the reader feel that he dies a beautiful death and he is at peace when he is dying. He believes he is free. Does this really occur? No one can know this answer for sure but with faith some people might think this is what happens. So what would you as a reader prefer for this story to be all facts and no fiction or the way it is?

If it gets you thru do you care if its true?

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?

When it comes to fantasies, people usually realize the appeal of some lies over truth.

Bierce's An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge makes it almost impossible for readers to distinguish between truth and lie by presenting the age old debate of fantasy v. reality.

Like most readers, I started off this story believing that every event actually happened, in the story at least. I proceeded to read it thinking that Farqhuar escaped his attempted hanging, and made it safely back into the arms of his wife. I was shocked to learn that this isn’t the case at all, and that he in fact fantasized about his wife before dying. It was then that I realized fantasies often hold greater appeal than reality.

Bierce used this idea to ensure his readers would believe Farqhuar has a change of luck, and survives. Instead of focusing on the reality aspect of the story, I, like many others, hoped Farqhuar really did make it out okay. I couldn’t determine truth from lie, fantasy from reality. In the case of this story, the terms are interchangeable. Reality serves as the truth, with Farqhuar's fantasy serving as a lie. Because most people have the natural reaction to "hope for the best", it is almost impossible for these readers to believe what is factual, and what is not.

Bierce plays with a very dangerous idea in this story. Readers have to be careful not to get lost in the lies of fantasies, and face reality. This is a lesson everyone can learn; its an important one that should be applied to everyday life.

To Believe or Not to Believe--That is the Question

The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge begs two seemingly simple questions: what is the real, and what is imagined? However, as the story is seen through the eyes of a dying man, the line separating reality and illusion gradually thins to nothingness.
Farquhar is immediately aware of the platform’s release and the pressure around his neck. He hears a rushing sound in his ears, believing it to be water. However, while there is a stream beneath him, is this truly what he hears? The rushing noise could also be desperate contractions of his airways as he swings beneath the bridge. Furthermore, his hands do not respond to any of his commands, also hinting that all may not be as it seems.
Then as Farquhar makes his way home on the forest path, the trees rise up like black walls. To him, they appear to be only desolate trees, but they represent the curtain to another world, as he “distinctly heard whispers in an unknown tongue” ensuing from them. Moreover, other physical symptoms assail him, such as swollen eyes and tongue. These symptoms deliver a strong hint to the reader that something is amiss and that Farquhar may not truly be walking along a path.
In the end, Farquhar is shown hanging dead from the noose, and it is not only Farquhar who must question what is real, but also reader. What characteristics of the illusion resulted from the physical effects of the noose, and what was purely invented as a comfort in a dying man’s last moments?

There is no truth. There is only perception. - Gustave Flaubert

One of the many answers to the epistemological question says that if one believes something, it becomes true, as seen in Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. She creates a situation that delves the reader into the live of Farquhar, where they believe all the good that happens during his hanging, although the occurrences that happen during his “escape” are impossible and would not be normally believed.

Readers automatically feel remorse for Farquhar because he is “evidently…no vulgar assassin” that is about to die. When he first talks about his desire to escape, readers wish for it to happen, wanting a typical “happy ending.” Despite his ability to flee from bullets and swim ashore with bound hands, details that are evidently implausible, readers begin to believe everything that is stated about his escape.

Then, after detailing the miracle for eighteen paragraphs, Bierce abruptly ends the story saying that Farquhar was dead, swinging “from side to side.” The ending paragraph shocks readers back to reality, evident that what they were made to believe was not so. Because his “escape” was a heroic, “splendid effort,” it wasn’t hard for readers to believe it. Had Bierce not ended the story with the truth, readers would continue to believe the escape happened, because it is what was desired to be true.

This story validates the statement that what an individual believes to be true becomes their reality.

What is truth?

In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce decieves the reader, and the main character himself, many times.

The first instance of this is the entire second part of the story. In the beginning, the reader was first introduced to a man waiting to be hung at Owl Creek Bridge. The reader reaches part two of the story with expectations that the story will continue with the man being hung. Instead, the reader is deceived for the first time with the timeline of the story shifting to before the man got into this situation.

In part two of the story, not only is the reader deceived, but also the man himself. Peyton Farquhar believes that the gray-clad soldier who approaches him at his home was a part of the Southern troops. The soldier tells him that the Yankees have reached Owl Creek Bridge and "are getting ready for another advance" but that any civilian who interferes with the troops will be hanged.

The reader is lead on to believe that this soldier is fighting for the South, but as part two of the story moves on the reader learns that this soldier is actually a Yankee. This is the second time the reader is decieved.

The final time the reader is deceived is the arguably the most important lie in the story. In part three, Bierce goes into great detail to put the reader into Farquhar's mind as he is being hung. Farquhar is dropped from the bridge and after a few moments, the rope breaks, releasing him into the water below. The reader is then lead through this great escape inevitably leading Farquhar back home, still alive, to see his wife.

But part three of the story was altogether a complete lie. The reader is deceived, again, for the last time.

Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder

In An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, lies and falsehood come with the desire for survival.

At the chronological beginning of the story, Peyton Farquhar is visited by a thirsty gray-clad soldier who is actually a Yankee spy. The Yankee tells Farquhar about the stockades at the Owl Creek bridge, knowing he would get the Rebel excited.
In a war, two sides are pitted against each other, each using all of their strategies, resources, and wits in order to win. If the members of the opposing side are dead, they cannot fight back and kill you.
The Yankee lied to Farquhar because he wanted him to come to the bridge so that they would have a reason to hang him. With one more Confedate dead, there is one less Confederate that is able to kill a Union soldier. He wanted to survive, so he had to lie to get what he needed.

Later in the story, Farquhar stands on the gallows, waiting for his death. He doesn't want it to come; no man desires death. As he waits for the floor to drop, he imagines an intricate scenario (which he completely believes) in which the rope breaks and he manages to untie himself, dodge hundreds of bullets, swim downriver to safety, then come home to his wife and family after a long voyage through the woods. He believes in his own lie, as unrealistic as it is, because in it he survives, and that is all that every human and animal is trying to do.

The only lies told in the story were to protect the liars from their own mortality.