Tuesday, April 16, 2013

What is the summary to the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce?

This is a great
psychological tale set in the midst of the Civil War. The main character is called Peyton
Farquhar, who is a wealthy Confederate planter who has been lured by a Union spy into attempting
to sabotage a bridge in Union-held territory. As the story open,s he has been captured by Union
forces and is about to be hanged from the bridge. However, instead of witnessing his death, we
first step into Farquhar's perspective and join him on a truly incredible escape. As he falls,
the rope snaps and Farquhar falls into the river. He dodges bullets shot at him, runs into the
woods and makes it back to his own home and family. At the end of this narrative relating his
miraculous escape, we learn that this was all a complete hallucination that is going on in
Farquhar's mind in the last few seconds of his life. The story ends with Farquhar's corpse
hanging from a rope from the Owl Creek Bridge.

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