The Civil War was a time of great strife in America, but this hardship also lead to great literature. In stories like “An Occurrence by Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, we see the historical impact the war not only had on the authors, but the stories themselves. This tale parallels life at the time of the Civil War, as well as the individual experiences of Ambrose himself. He tells the tale of a plantation owner, Peyton Farquhar, who is on the thin line between life and death. This is an experience personal to Bierce himself, as well as many soldiers at that time. Bierce considered his short stories a tell all from his experiences, “In the realm of fiction, Bierce wrote short stories exclusively. He disdained novels. In a short essay titled ‘The Short Story’ he dismisses novels as ‘mere reporting” (LaValle). His stories were a short, concise way to give readers an insight into his experiences. 

The story itself of course, has great cultural significance. Learning about Ambrose Bierce as a human before author, helps make a lot of connections in the story. Bierce served as a soldier in the Union Army. Although he was not on the battleground, his job was very tedious and required great skill. He was a topographical officer, meaning he helped study land and find where the enemy was located. Even though his job was more behind the scenes, he received a blow to the head during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. His brush with death, which showed him the fine line between life and death, is what inspired “An Occurrence by Owl Creek Bridge.” In Victor LaValles article “Bierced,” he motions towards the impact the Civil War had on his writing style by saying that “Bierce’s dismissal of the probable and his passionate belief in the impossible were nurtured by his experiences in the Civil War”  (LaValle 32). 

“An Occurrence by Owl Creek Bridge” is sectioned into three different sections to tell the whole story. In part one, we are introduced to our main character who we can presume is a wealthy plantation owner by the way his clothing is described. He is being hung, though we are unsure why. He looks down at the water below him, and dreams of freeing his hands and escaping. The way Bierce tells the story, part one leads us into the cultural significance the rest of the story provides. The scene itself is the epitome of a Civil War scenario, a small group of soldiers and an execution over a railroad bridge. Bierce probably witnessed something similar during his time as an officer, and gives a very realistic perspective to the reader. 

In part two of the story, we are introduced to Peyton Farquhar, who is the same man being hung in the first section he was “a well-to-do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause” (Bierce). He isn’t a soldier, though he dreams of being one. At this time slave owners were supporters of secession and the south being independent. We can conclude from this that his status and occupation were the reason for his hanging. Another important influence in this section is that it takes place in Corinth, Mississippi. Corinth was a major railroad area, as well as the setting for the Battle of Shiloh, where there were so many Confederate casualties they had to retreat. I believe Bierce used the mention of Corinth not only because it was an important railroad area ad the tracks play a role in this story, but also because he was a Federal soldier in real life and it was a location for great victory. As well as that, Farquhar comes in contact with a soldier he hopes will help him, but the author of “Disciplinary Conditioning and Self-Surveillance in Ambrose Bierce’s War Fiction” argues that “the military service Farquhar anticipates resembles a civilians fantasy of war” (Morrone 7). This continues with Bierce’s fantastical views on war and those who fought them, that they were some type of hero. In support of his writing being fantastical and less realistic, LaValle speaks on the angle of his writing “While it’s true his work often made use of personal experiences—particularly as a soldier in the Civil War—a reader would be hard-pressed to call it straight journalism” (LaValle). Bierce is trying to give the reader a feeling about the war, not just an account of it. 

Part three is where we re-enter the present as Farquhar falls through the railroad tracks he was walking on. He is woken up feeling as if he can’t breathe. According to Morrone, Author of “Disciplinary Conditioning and Self-Surveillance in Ambrose Bierce’s War Fiction” Farquhar “masks his terror by escaping into a dream state” and even says like Bierce, he was “romantically persuaded by the tenets of marital idealism and the glorification of war” (Morrone 7). Men like Farquhar who dreamed of being soldiers, idealized war and glorified it. We then realize he is back in the reality of being hung. He somehow frees himself and goes into the water, warding off bullets from the soldiers. He then returns home mysteriously, and as he goes to hug his wife, he feels a terrible pain on the back of his neck and everything turns white. The last line of the story returns to past tense, “Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge” (Bierce). The story comes full circle and Farquhar has officially met his death, even though he tried so hard to escape it. This line of life and death that Bierce romantically plays with through Farquhar’s fantasies ultimately disappears and Farquhar officially meets his fate. 

In conclusion, Ambrose Bierce’s main character in “An Occurrence by Owl Creek Bridge” parallels not only what Bierce went through in his own life, but what the war meant to men at the time. He dances with this fantasy of the line between life and death, something that soldiers experience in combat, and takes us on a journey that ultimately ends in tragedy. 
