An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ambrose Bierce
- First Published: 1891
- Type of Plot: Gothic
- Time of Work: About 1863
- Setting: Northern Alabama
- Principal Characters: Peyton Farquhar, Assorted members of the Northern army
- Genres: Short fiction, Gothic fiction
- Subjects: South or Southerners, Civil War, Death or dying, Armies, Horror
- Locales: Alabama
The Story
“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...
[The entire page is 1922 words long]
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