The short story Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge has a dramatic twist at the end. This twist makes the reader realize that what he was led to believe wasn't actually true. The way the story was told can be perceived as the author lying to the reader, but was it really a lie? Lying can be considered a "manipulation of the truth", which is exactly what the author did. However, lying can also be defined as the falsification of information. The author never exactly falsified any of the information in the story, he just seamlessly changed the perception of what is happening. This change of perception was from the reality of what was happening to Farquhar, to Farquhar's imagination. It isn't entirely clear when this change of perception occurs, but it's most likely when the sergeant steps off the plank. The story jumps to the background of how Farquhar ended up in the position he is in, and then back to what the reader believes is occurring at the bridge. This gave the reader the perception that what Farquhar was imagining would happen when he fell from the bridge, actually happened. It was only revealed at the end of the story that the reader was manipulated into believing one thing, when that "truth" never actually happened, it was only dreamed by Farquhar. The reader realizes that the detailed dream of Farquhar escaping occurs in the small amount of time between when the sergeant steps off the plank and when the rope breaks Farquhar's neck.
Could this manipulation be considered a lie? Changing perceptions isn't lying but it can lead one to believe they are being told a lie, because it is the manipulation of what is actually occurring. This raises the question of when the manipulation of truth turns into lying, making us question what actually constitutes a lie.
I think this is an interesting way to consider this story. This story does not depict the “true” events of the hanging, yet we hear Farquhar’s “true” train of thought as he steps off the plank. I like your question of where the line gets drawn between manipulation of truth and lies because this line does seem to be fuzzy and forever changing. Authors have the ability to feed us lies and we get to absorb and experience them however we choose. We can see them as actual lies or we can see them as the truth to certain individuals or characters. While this imagined series of events may seem like a lie to the reader, it was the truth of Farquhar’s fantasy, but does that make it a lie? Who gets to determine whether or not it is a lie?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with your view. While it may seem easy to just accept the ending of the story and Peyton's death, it's not that simple because we have followed an entire story so willingly believing something entirely different. It forces us to confront the difficult question of what is truth and what is a lie? What is real and what is fabricated? These are deeper philosophical questions the Bierce leads us to through his story. Ultimately, I think these questions take on a great significance in the reader rather than what is the accepted ending of the story.
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