an occurrence at owl creek bridge analysis

He has made this horrifying odyssey to get back home, but when he gets there, it is has been burned to the ground and his bullet-ridden mother joins the list of casualties.Ī tale of heroism and vengeance as a scout risks his own life in an effort to divulge the location of the enemy to his unit of soldiers. This story features a child who is both incapable of speech and deaf making his way across a Civil War battlefield littered in shells, dead bodies and dried blood. His explanation for this decision? The man was not just a Confederate soldier, but also his own father.Īnother of Bierce’s most famous stories and another example of a knife being twisted into the expectations of the reader at the end. The soldier’s superior officer is returning to camp when he see the sight of horse and man falling through the sky and when he reaches the soldier he learns that that he shot the horse and not the man. Finally, he decides to just shoot the man’s horse and watches as both man and animal leap from the ledge. He considers shooting the man, but is morally conflicted by the circumstances of this action. Or is he?Ī soldier who has fallen asleep wakes to see a Confederate soldier and his horse perched on a high cliff across the way. Peyton Farquhar is the beneficiary of cheap rope and a makeshift gallows when the noose snaps at the moment of judgement and he is given the unexpected opportunity to flee for freedom. The reader follows with breathless anticipation the adventures of a Southerner who miraculously escapes death by hanging during the Civil War. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Īn iconic example of Bierce’s patented ability to confound readers with an unexpected “twist” ending and unquestionably the author’s most well-known work.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

An occurrence at owl creek bridge analysis