An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - Essay Example

Ambrose Bierce’s ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ is considered one of the best short stories in literature. The story is particularly well known for its ‘dream and reality’ theme and surprise ending, This is the story of a man Farquhar who is going to be hanged, and a few moments before death, he goes into a trance where the boundary between dreams and reality is removed and Farquhar imagines a world of his own. The story is based on the flowing nature of time. Farquhar is hovering at the edge of the bridge waiting for death to take away his life but as he closes his eye, he delves into his own subconscious which leads him to his own conjectured reality.

It is easy to see that Farquhar’s state of mind is disturbed when he interprets the sound ticking of his watch as something noisy and distressful. As time ticks, Farquhar wafts into a dream-like state where there is no limitation of time. The author compares his situation to that of a ‘vast pendulum’ which swings uncontrollably. The space in which Farquhar delves is an intermediary between life and death, a world that is bound by its unknown rules. There is a very thin boundary between illusion and reality and till the end of the story, readers think of Farquhar’s illusion as reality.

He is desperate to see his wife and children again and in his desperation, his mind creates a different world that can provide him an escape from this predicament. The story makes it clear that to a certain degree, the nature of time is subjective. During the brief time interval between Farquhar’s fall and death, the time dilates and slows down to allow for the events to take place as the mind wishes. He evades bullets, cannons, and soldiers and makes a tiring journey to see his family. But just when he is about to embrace his wife, a white flash of light brings him back to reality, and his neck breaks (Bierce, 2010).

What the author wants to imply is no matter how much our mind takes us deep into our dreams we are always connected to reality and this reality is what defines us. Apart from highlighting the difference between dreams and reality, the story tries to accomplish the duality of emotions. The readers know that the Union army is right as it is fighting the civil war and that Farquhar is a slave owner who has tried to be an obstacle for the Union army. Farquhar however has his wife and children who will never see him again.

This places the readers in a quandary as to who is in the right place. In this way, the duality of the classification of right and wrong is established and an important question is set up how far can the ‘right’ go before it can be classified as ‘wrong’? An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge takes readers into a classic battle between reality and illusion and poses important questions to them. It is indeed one of the best-written short stories, which grapples readers’ attention with its amazing and meaningful plot.