An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Summary
by Ambrose Bierce

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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Summary

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce in which Peyton Farquhar prepares to be executed and dreams of escape.

  • Peyton Farquhar stands on Owl Creek Bridge, which he was arrested for trying to burn down, and prepares for his execution.
  • In a flashback, the third-person narrator tells of how and why Farquhar came to be at Owl Creek: Farquhar was tricked into trying to burn the bridge down in order to prevent Union troops from crossing it.
  • Returning to the moment of his hanging, Farquhar loses consciousness. In his mind, Farquhar escapes, but the execution is ultimately successful.

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(Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition)

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” contains three distinct sections: a matter-of-fact opening scene, a flashback to provide some necessary history, and a fast-paced conclusion. The story begins with clear, simple, declarative sentences:A man stood upon a railroad bridge in Northern Alabama, looking down into the swift waters twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope loosely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head.

In the next sentence, it becomes apparent that this man is about to be executed by a unit of the Union army. The preparations for the execution are described in clinical detail. The narrator seems to be a dispassionate spectator who is unfamiliar with any of the participants in this grim event. The physical setting and movements of the Union company are rendered with such calm accuracy that the scene comes to life clearly and vividly. The condemned man is judged to be “about thirty-five years of age” and is “evidently” a southern “gentleman.”

“The preparations being complete,” the focus narrows to the condemned planter; the objective description yields subtly to a more subjective point of view, which allows the reader insight into the Southerner’s thoughts. The man is calm but, as might be expected, somewhat disoriented; he imagines that the “swift waters” are “sluggish.” He is disturbed by “a sharp, distinct, metallic precussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil. . . . [W]hat he heard was the ticking of his watch.” As he stands alone awaiting his death, he imagines throwing off his noose, diving into the water, and escaping to his beloved home and family. As these thoughts pass through his brain, the sergeant steps off of the back of a board on which the man is balanced over the water, and the condemned planter falls toward the stream, the noose tight around his neck.

The second section discloses who the man is and what events lead him to his desperate plight. His name is Peyton Farquhar, and he is a member of “an old and highly respected Alabama family.” Peyton, who was “ardently devoted to the Southern cause,” was prevented from joining the army by circumstance and was eager to serve the South in any way possible. One evening, while he was sitting with his wife, a grey-clad soldier rode up, asked for water, and told them that the Northern army was preparing to advance once the bridge over Owl Creek had been repaired. The soldier indicated that the bridge was poorly guarded and that a brave man could easily burn it down. Farquhar undertook the challenge of destroying the bridge and was captured. The last sentence of section two reveals that the planter never had a chance, because the grey-clad soldier was, in fact, a “Federal scout.”

The third section returns abruptly to the present: “As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge, he lost consciousness and was as one already dead.” His agony as the rope snaps tight is briefly described; “then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark. . . . [H]e knew that the rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream.” He struggles...

(The entire section is 2,396 words.)