Owl Creek Bridge

  Its Northern Alabama, Payton Farquhar is standing on a railroad bridge overlooking the fast, yet cold water below. The opening scene and the details of uniformed men' postures, purposes, protocol, overall landscape and all structural surroundings ease into the atmosphere at hand. The authors reason for this scene is to create a mental picture describing an obvious ceremonial lynching by the Federal forces. The civilians demeanor and appearance is also described as one of a gentlemen. The location was secluded with nowhere to go, the lynching was going to happen and sadly Payton's fate was undoubtedly set. This gives me reason to believe that the civilian (Payton) had to have sided with the confederate's somehow and was being convicted and executed by a wartime penalty.  

  The purpose for this scene was to engage the reader and share what Payton was feeling while standing on a plank supported by another mans weight with a rope fastened securely around his neck. How it was an air tight  fail proof situation that he was in and what flashed through his mind in the waning moments until the plank was no longer supported. The possibility of escape and scenarios to achieve it would run through all of our minds. When acceptance sets in, then the ones we love the most become our priority to the last breath. Payton was a good man, but sometimes even good men pay the price for standing up for what they believe. This scene sets the foundation for what is real and what is wishful throughout the remainder of the story. 

  While reading the whole Ambrose Bierce story I naturally try predicting the conclusion at the very beginning. Understanding the situation and being part of the current military myself, I quickly finalize that Payton will be lynched, so when the details of his escape were given I couldn't buy it. I mean the soldiers were positioned at both ends of the bridge and around him. The rope was secured to "stout timber" above his head and even if the rope somehow broke, the positioned soldiers would have a clear shot. As the story went on and after Payton escaped by surviving the initial jolt of the rope/brake, then pulling a houdini by freeing his hands, eluding bullets while fighting currents down stream and successfully running into the woods in the direction of home; the story comes back to the last details of the first scene. As it turned out, the escape scene that perceived to last a whole day really lasted just moments in Payton's mind as he was falling to his doom. Maybe I think a little too logical or critical, but somehow it did help me this time because I actually accurately predicted the outcome to this story.

  The fall of Corinth caused great trouble for the South during the war. The railway supply lines were cut and after several attempts to retake it, the South ultimately failed. Payton's character is described as "naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the southern cause. Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with the gallant army that had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he chafed under the life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction." (Ambrose Bierce, 173). The Federal forces are advancing and with each stride the railway is being rebuilt for use again. Payton was a supporter of the Confederacy/South and based on the fact that the scout pretty much duped him into trying to burn down the Owl Creek Bridge. The North may have been trying to lure all confederate extremist left to the bridge, then legally execute them based on their actions. This could indicate there was quite a disparity between the North and South during this time of reconstruction.

Citations Used:

Ambrose Bierce. Great American Short Stories. Mineola, New York:

Dover Publications, INC. 2002. Pg. 713.