An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

As I flipped to the page of our assigned reading, I noticed that the title of this story was familiar. I'd read it before in a high school literature class. I remembered being shocked and a little upset when the story ended with Peyton Farquhar's death. Like most of my class, I found myself cheering Farquhar on, only to have my hopes shattered just when the story lead me to believe he would live "happily ever after".

As I began reading this time, knowing how the story would end, I found myself searching for all of the little clues Ambrose Bierce gave us, indicating that the whole escaping adventure was just a delusion. That will be my focus for this post.

The first clue that Farquhar was starting to become delusional is near the end of Part I of the story. He hadn't been hanged yet, but he was waiting for the board beneath his feet to drop. At this time, he heard the ticking of his watch. The story describes it like this:

"Striking through the thought of his dear ones was a sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp distinct, metal percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurable distant or near by--it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell. He awaited each stroke with impatience and--he knew not why--apprehension. The intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek." 

As Farquhar slipped away from reality, the story told us he heard each tick of his watch louder than the last to the point of unbearable pain. This is unreasonable and easily a forewarning of the upcoming escape delusion. 

Another clue is given when the story told further evidence of Farquhar's misconception of time. It was probably only a few seconds from the time which the board dropped beneath his feet to the time he felt the pressure from the rope on his throat. However, the story said the time in between seemed to be "ages later", according to Farquhar. 

More clues given all have to do with his "preternaturally keen and alert" physical senses. From seeing the veins on leaves located on distant trees, to hearing a fish part the water with its body as it swam, all of the heightened senses dealing with the environment around him indicated delusion. 

An additional clue is given when Farquhar was "caught in a vortex" in the water, then ended up on the southern bank. That's not very plausible. Once again, it was a sign of delusion. 

The final clue is given at the end, when he was almost home. The story says he'd "fallen asleep while walking". He'd magically gone from being out in the middle of nowhere to being at the gate of his house. This obviously doesn't happen in reality, so it's also a sign of delusion. 

Much like seeing a movie for the second time, picking up on humor and little facets of the plot previously missed, reading this story again helped me make more sense of it. I even found it more enjoyable than the first time.