Ambrose Bierce - An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

     I was very interested in reading the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce.  Ambrose uses realism throughout this short story by speaking of nature and its beauty.  He sensibly lays out all of the details such as the setting which is in northern Alabama and the time is the Civil War.  Bierce specifically describes the complicated series of beams, planks, and ropes that were needed to hang Farquhar.  When I read this section in the story I could actually see this taking place in my mind.  Bierce verifies a recognizable world by his descriptions of the positioning of the soldiers, the way they hold their guns, the details of military ritual and conduct, and the exact terminology and language.  This story has authenticity and authority because Bierce drew from his own experiences of fighting for the North during the Civil War.  All of these details ground the readers into the story but it is not till the end of the story that Bierce reveals his structural innovations.  In the final section of the story a fantasy world replaces reality.  Although this fantasy world is falsely similar to the real world.  Bierce contributes in a realist tradition that helps to change popular thoughts of war by referring to the realistic details of an enemy’s execution.      

            I recognized a motif in this short story.  The motif that I recognized was the color gray.  The color gray appeared throughout the story, implying the vague color line that divides friends from foes as well as the clouded sense of reality.  The color gray signifies the Confederacy and thus is the cause to which Farquhar irrationally sacrifices himself.  The “gray clad” rider approaches Farquhar and his wife in the second section of the story.  Although the color gray is a misleading sign of the rider’s association since he is only pretending to be a Confederate soldier.  Here the color gray shows an alteration of the truth which is that the soldier is actually a Northern scout disguised in the enemy’s colors.  As Farquhar begins his daydreamt escape, he works under a gloomy gray sky.  Farquhar’s eyes are gray as well as the eyes of the guard who takes aim at him from the bridge.

            I enjoyed reading this short story because throughout the entire story I could visualize everything that I read.  It was as though I was in the story myself experiencing all those things.  I had never heard of this author but from reading this story I would love to read some of his other works.  I love nature and that is what this story is mainly about.  I think that the ending of the story is intended and more appropriate for a thriller, suspense, or mystery tale than for a literary work.  I guess that was why I enjoyed reading the story because reading works like that is what interests me the most.