Blog #7 - "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is written by a man named Ambrose Bierce. I think that this was may favorite of the stories or speeches that we have had to read so far. It was a very sad story with a sad ending, but I have to say I thought it was super interesting. The story is about a man named Peyton Farquahar, who lives in the South and is a plantation owner. While sitting on a rustic bench with his wife, a soldier passes by and gives them news about the war. The soldier tells Farquahar that the opposing soldiers were planning to invade soon. The soldier then tells Peyton of his idea to blow up the bridge in an effort to stop the invasion, or at least put it off. Now, Peyton Farquahar was not very involved in the war effort, but he wanted to be very much. He felt that it was his duty to do this so that he could help the South.

He agrees to go with the soldier and blow up the bridge. However, in an attempt of doing so, he was caught. But, it was stated that, "any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels or trains will be summarily hanged" (Bierce). All of that, was really just the background information. Most of the story actually goes along by describing what Peyton is imagining. The whole thing is about his "great escape" that never really happened. It was very sad that it did not end good, but I thought that it was very well written and a very interesting concept. It is awesome to think that all of that can be thought out in just a split second, and in such great detail nonetheless. It also had a lot of good historical information in it. So between all of the history and the psychological aspect, I really enjoyed ready "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."


"Fiction: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Fiction: Welcome to The EServer's Fiction Collection. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.