Peyton Farquhar An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by American author Ambrose Bierce set during the Civil War, and is famous for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. It features one main character named Peyton Farquhar, “a well-to-do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family” (Bierce 2.1), and the events leading up to his death. The author illustrates this character in various ways to show that he is an imperious, foolish, yet devoted man.
A characteristic of Peyton Farquhar that is evident in this short story is his imperiousness. The narrator says that Farquhar is “a slave owner” (2.1). We never see Farquhar with his slaves and don't know how many he owns, but we know he is a willing and enthusiastic participant in the institution of slavery. This information allows us to know a great deal about Farquhar. He treats human beings like livestock, …show more content…
In part two, a Union soldier in disguise visits Farquhar’s home and essentially tricks him into attempting to burn down the Owl Creek Bridge. It is ironic that by dressing as a Confederate soldier this man convinced Farquhar to risk his own life; though he seems to be giving Farquhar an opportunity to be a hero, so he is driven to take it. As Bierce explains, “No service was too humble for him to perform in aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war” (2.1). Blinded by this opportunity, Farquhar is unable to realise that this man is actually not a Confederate soldier because he does not ask questions like: why does a Confederate soldier know so much about Union plans for a member of the opposing side? And isn't his arrival just a bit too