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Full reviews found on this blog will most likely be very spoiler-heavy. I highly suggest reading/watching the media in question before reading a full review.
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Saturday, June 11, 2016

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Review

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
By Ambrose Bierce

Rating: Chills

Themes/Genres:    Psychological, Short Story, Horror; Death, Nature of Time, Illusions

Main Characters:   Peyton Farquhar


Overview:
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a tale of a Southern man in the time of the Civil War, pining for a soldier's life he can't have, and sacrificing his life to assist his side of the war.  Taking the subtle advice from a passing Confederate soldier, he goes to burn a bridge the Union is trying to rebuild only to be caught and hung in the early morning hours on Owl Creek Bridge.

During the process, the rope broken and he's plunged into the river below, giving him the opportunity to escape and return to the family that filled his final thoughts.  Through much trial he finally makes it home to his wife, who is waiting with open arms, before reality returns and his life ends on the end of a rope on Owl Creek Bridge.

Main Review:
A short story written in 1890, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge has had several adaptations, inspired many works of art such as songs, albums, plays, and many more stories, and is another work of fiction that helped shaped the written world.  It’s been directly and indirectly noted in everything from heavy metal songs like “The Hanging Soldier” to an episode of the Simpsons where the class is putting on a play of the story, itself. Over 100 years after its publication, this classic story is still reaching audiences.

And it certainly deserves to be.

While in today’s era of horror the ending of “he was actually dead, after all” isn’t the most shocking revelation in the world and has been done countless times, it’s oftentimes done incorrectly.  Either it’s made far too obvious with no subtlety whatsoever, or it comes completely out of left-field with no indication that it’s even an option.  Owl Creek Bridge doesn’t have that problem.

There are recurring themes and hints throughout the story that, if paid attention to, indicate the twist ending the entire time and keeps the story connected to itself, without becoming too belligerently obvious.  One of the examples of this is the repeated appearance of the color grey.  The grey suit on the Confederate soldier, the grey eyes in both him and one of the sentinels, and the grey sky under which he escapes, they all convey the idea of a clouded sense of reality, misleading illusions and obsessions.

Another is the driftwood that appears under the bridge, distracting Peyton from his thoughts of his wife and children as he comments on how incredibly slow it seems to be moving despite the seemingly rushing water of the river.  It’s a parallel to the slowing and fluidity of time, often described by those on the verge of death.  It becomes an extension of himself, floating down the river to freedom.

A final note is the disproportionately acute senses Peyton acquires after his escape from the rope and yet the strangely detached view of his own body.  It shows the increased gap between him and reality, as his physical body remains in place at the end of the rope, his raw senses have to make up for the detachment by going into an inaccurate overload.  It allows him to slip into his full fantasy of escape.

All of these are consistent enough that they can be pointed out and connected, especially after a second or third read through, but are also written well enough that on a first read-through it still accomplishes the point of a twist, the brief shock.  While this isn’t necessarily the most ‘horror’ of stories, it’s certainly a well-written piece of work and deserves the read.  Just maybe not so much if you’re looking for a nightmare-fueled night.  While the idea that anything you could be experiencing right now could potentially only be a pre-death illusion is a scary enough thought, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is far less nightmare and far more time slows down and the world melts away in the most poetic, fashion.


It’s an English teacher’s wet dream with its brilliant placed and thought-out metaphors, but maybe not the scariest story on the block.

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