The shock of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

After reading “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, I was absolutely shocked at how the author had ended the story. The way the narrator had readers thinking that Peyton Farquhar is quite similar to a recent American Dad episode that I had watched. The narrator makes readers believe that Mr. Farquhar is going to survive, by flashing into an imaginary world (probably Mr. Farquhar’s) where the best-case scenario happens. Mr. Farquhar ends up surviving the fall into the water and also manages to dodge all the bullets that are shot at him. He eventually gets washed up to a creek where he escapes and is able to reach his family, where both Mr. Farquhar and readers are shocked to find that it was all a dream.

The author uses some sort of technique in order to capture the attention and expectation of readers. He starts by introducing the scene in which Mr. Farquhar finds himself about to be killed. The author then flashes back in time to a night or so before Mr. Farquhar’s death and gives some details on Mr. Farquhar including the fact that he was from the south. The author includes another southerner in the flashback that warns Mr. Farquhar “The Yanks are repairing the railroads and are getting ready for another advance”. The same man also warns him “any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, … will be summarily hanged”. This clears up the reason as to why Mr. Farquhar finds himself about to be killed. The narrative then returns to Mr. Farquhar jumping into the river and ends up surviving the fall and also dodging all the bullets shot at him. The author goes on for an elaborate escape in which Mr. Farquhar reaches his family for the happily ever after readers hope for. However, the author ends up shocking readers at the end by proclaiming him dead with a broken neck swinging below the Oak Creek Bridge. Since he was swinging dead, readers can only assume that the escape was all an elaborated imagination that Mr. Farquhar had moments before his death.