Manipulation of Time

            Ambrose Bierce plays with the perception of time in “An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge,” depicting the experience of death as one not in harmony with our natural sensitivities. The story starts out describing what seems like just a snapshot in time, with the soldiers standing “stonily, motionless,” like “statues.” Bierce sets the scene as such for three paragraphs, making it clear that time is actually passing as a select few people move; however, it is unclear how much time actually passes in these opening paragraphs. While at first this seems just a typical opening description of a scene as in many short stories, it is actually Bierce’s first hint at his manipulation of time throughout the story.

            This manipulation becomes less subtle as the narration shifts to reveal the perspective of the man being hanged. The man, knowing he’s about to die, observes the water below him “racing madly,” while two sentences later he claims it to appear “sluggish.” The way Bierce uses these contrasting observations within his character’s single train of thought really begins to demonstrate the skewed perception of timing of this man who, as we find out, has but a few moments to live. Bierce really expands on this idea with the way he portrays the man’s inability to recognize the ticking of his own watch. The ticks strike like “a death knell” with “strength and sharpness,” creating turmoil in his mind. They exist as a physical reminder of what is about to happen to him, a countdown to his death. So while his conscious mind is unable to distinguish this painful sound as the simple ticking of his watch, his apprehensive emotional state recognizes that there is something wrong. Thus, through this character’s psyche, Bierce portrays the distorted reality in the seconds leading up to death.

            Not only is time manipulated in the man’s mind, but in the structure of the story itself. The whole third section, a good half of the story, actually takes place in the thoughts that merely “flashed into the doomed man’s brain.” They come about so quickly and exist for just a short moment before he dies, yet they take up the greater part of the story. To parallel the character’s own skewed perception of time, the reader is left with a disproportionate representation of the timing of the events that take place. As Bierce immerses the reader into this doomed man’s consciousness he allows for the manipulation of sensation and experiences due to the distorted timing of his narration.