An Incident At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis

Ambrose Bierce, a well-respected and passionate writer, offered an insight to the American Civil War by giving the readers a glimpse at an important event that took place during this time period through his short story “An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge”. The story revolves around a young man who devoted his life into the war effort, however, ended up dying because of an unwise action he got tricked into doing. In the story, Ambrose used personal observation, story telling skills, and startling facts to help him build up the story line leading up to the conflict, ultimately deliver a powerful message.

“An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge” takes place during the Civil War. The main character of the story is Peyton Farquhar, a man from Northern Alabama, who believed in delivering his all to the will of the common belief. He was a member of the Confederate force and was a man who’s willing to use even underhanded methods to support his cause. Throughout the length of the passage, the use of flashbacks helped describe the life that Peyton Farquhar had had before he was caught wandering near the bridge. As the story mentioned, Peyton was “a …show more content…
Accordingly, the setting, which takes place in the forest, provides a major part to the build-up of the story. While Peyton is nearing is death, he goes into the woods to find the bridge to pull of his act. Conversely, the fact that the place was in the jungle and there was no one there probably made him think that he was not being watched, which lead to him getting caught off-guard. The setting also makes him think that the forest lies in a perfect position which makes readers think that he could be dreaming at the time. Not only that it was in the forest, Peyton’s action also took place at night, which made it a perfect occasion for the trapping of the Federal side to be successful (which it