Reponse to "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

In Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, he uses a random, non-chronological order of events and shifts in the point of view to add suspense and keep the reader interested. The story opens in the third person objective point of view, allowing the reader to take in the setting and situation in a general sense before seeing it from the main character’s point of view. Through close detail in describing the setting, Bierce makes the reader able to picture all of the events and the serious, grave atmosphere at the bridge.

At the end of part one, the story slowly transitions into part two in that the point of view begins to switch to third person subjective, showing Peyton Farquhar’s last thoughts. In part two, we are “brought back in time”, and it feels like reading a storybook that begins with the cliché phrase, “Once upon a time…”, as the author brings us into the background information behind the scene that was just presented in part one. Chronologically, part two should go before part one, but it slowly and gradually makes the reader more aware of the situation, while Bierce gives us the background information piece by piece. It is as if he wants to lure the reader in by grabbing his or her attention and keeping him or her hooked on the story, by providing moments that may cause a spark in the reader’s brain and link the many fragments and pieces of the story together.

In part three, Farquhar keeps imagining ways to escape his execution. Again, through strong detail and descriptions of Farquhar’s elaborate thoughts, the author makes it so that the reader feels as though Farquhar is really escaping. The point of view in this part is entirely in third person subjective. The non-chronological sequence of events can be a bit confusing to the reader, because there is simply so much going on. Then, the author holds this bit of confusion and the suspense until the very last sentence, when he finally reveals to the reader that these plans of escape were merely in Farquhar’s head—he was executed and the story ends quite abruptly.