An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Study Guide

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Style

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" centers on Peyton Farquhar, a southern farmer about to be hanged by the Union army for attempting to destroy the railroad bridge at Owl Creek. As he stands with the noose around his neck, Farquhar imagines that the rope breaks and he escapes. At the end of the story, it is revealed that these imaginings took place in the seconds before his death.

Structure and Narration

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is divided into three sections, with each section having its own distinct structure and narrative technique. In the first section, Bierce describes the setting of the execution up to the point the plank beneath Farquhar' s feet is removed. It is told from a conventional third-person point of view, with the narrator objectively describing the scene and.....

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