Lies of Conforts

I must say the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce was thought provoking to say the least. Peyton Farquhar, a southern gentleman and loyal to the South, was misled into death by his urge of adventure. In his last moments where he stood with his captives, when the roped was tied around his neck, he knew a miracle was his only option for survival. When that rope tightened around his neck, was it the lack of air and his strong desire to see his family that created his dramatic escape?

The story left me in awe because now I wonder if it is our minds that answer to the heart. I took, or at least tried to take, an existentialist point of view while reading this story. I could relate it to “The Wall” by John-Paul Sartre because both protagonists are to be executed by their military capturers and both their bodies react in an unusual manner. Peyton’s imagines an escape to have some comfort on his final breath. Sartre’s character’s body responds in massive sweat from the unknown fear of death.

The difference between both characters is that Peyton’s body is trying to shelter him from his cruel fate. His mind showed him what his heart desired the most. It was in this moment of death that Peyton knew what he wanted because in the face of death he was free of the lies in the world. All he knew was that being with his family again would content him.

How can we know our hearts have not become polluted by desires that are guided by greed, lust or power? I have come to the resolution that our hearts can be truly pure on two types of occasions. One of them is when we are young, when beauty to us is not corrupted by others’ standards and when true joy can come from our imagination before the appetite for a new toy overcomes us.

The second is when death is creeping on us, when we have those last moments to reflect on how we got there. Just like Peyton, in his last moments he wanted to see and be with his family above all. His desire was so pure that his mind sheltered him and created illusions to comfort him, at least until reality snapped his neck.