An_Occurrence_At_Owl_Creek_Bridge

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Ambrose Bierce tells not only of humanity’s will to survive, but also of the willingness to become greater than, and more powerful than that which is natural. The story is about the hanging of a civilian, Peyton Farquhar, because of his attempt to help the Confederate forces. Before Farquhar was hanged, however, his mind takes him through a heroic escape. Bierce does an excellent job of describing the escape in a dream-like fashion. He shows the mind’s ability to escape reality, and to escape the inevitable. The first sighting of Farquhar’s supernatural capabilities came after he closed his eyes to think about his family. ''A short distinct, metabolic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; They hurt his ears like the thrust of a knife… What he heard was the ticking of his watch.'" (Bierce 571). The mind will enhance the senses before death. It will allow aspects of nature to be highlighted and to appear most significant. As in this case, Farquhar was able to hear a farquhar, escape, able, through, mind, because, senses, came, bierce, about, while, thought, swimming, out, looked, know, heroic, first, dream, bullets, bridge, before, 571, world, without, wife, water, upon, therefore, tells, supernatural, story, stars, safety, reader