What emotions did the ending of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" evoke in you?
The story's ending is so shocking in some ways that the reader must first come to terms with what has happened to Peyton Farquhar. It turns out that almost the entirety of part 3 of the story has taken place in Farquhar's own head, his sense of time having slowed down in the extreme as he waited to be hanged. However, Bierce does such a good job of compelling our sympathy for Farquhar throughout the story—such as in Farquhar's attempt to fix his final thoughts on his wife and children, his extreme desire to return to his family, and his relief when he sees his beautiful wife again—that I feel sad for him when it is revealed that part 3 all took place as he fell from the bridge to the end of his rope. Despite the fact that he is devoted to the Southern cause, has tried to disrupt...
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the Northern war effort by burning a bridge, and, we must assume, owns slaves, Farquhar has been so thoroughly humanized by Bierce that I am filled with sympathy for this man.
How did the ending alter your interpretation of events in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?
There is no real right or wrong answer to this question. It might differ from reader to reader, so as long as you explain your response, you should be good to go.
I will tell you how most of my students react to the ending of this story. It usually goes something like this: "Wait. What? He died? That means . . . he imagined. . . everything. Worst story ever!"
Of course they don't really mean that last part though, because I believe that any story that can get such a heated response is a fairly good story.
The ending does change some specifics of the story for me though. For example, my interpretation of the first sentence of section three changes quite a bit.
As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead.
It says that Peyton was "as one already dead." Well, that's because he basically was dead at that point. My interpretation of the rope breaking changed too after knowing the end of the story. When I first read the story, I completely accepted the fact that the rope was able to break. Of course after knowing the ending to the story, I thought myself foolish for believing that. Why would the rope break? Of course it was his imagination.
Probably the largest reinterpretation for me is the story's use of the word "conscious." Part three says several times that Peyton was not conscious of a certain feeling or effort.
He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands.
Because I know that the entire part three sequence happened in Peyton's head, it now makes total sense that Peyton wasn't conscious of anything. When I'm dreaming, I'm not conscious of anything either. And that's what happened to Peyton.