What is the message to the reader in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

A short
story does not necessarily have to have a message. As a work of art, a short story is intended
to produce "a single effect." That is part of Edgar Allan Poe's definition and is now
widely accepted. In order to analyze a short story it is a good idea to start with the single
effect it produces. Poe used the term "effect," but we might call it the
"feeling" or "emotional effect" produced by the story and left in the
reader's mind after it ends. In Shirley Jackson's famous story "The Lottery," for
example, we would probably all agree that the "effect" or feeling is one of horror and
disbelief as Tessie Hutchinson is encircled by her own relatives, friends, and neighbors, all of
whom are intent on stoning her to death. In " " the effect is one of pity and
compassion for the poor man who thought he...