An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

In the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", a man dies (Bierce). This man was at his home with his wife and children. It was during the time period of slavery, and he was a white man living in the South. This man was pro-slavery. While the man is at home a Northerner who is dressed like a southerner rides up to his house on a horse. He gives the man details about the Owl Creek Bridge. He tells him that if they break down the bridge, then Northerners cannot get across. the man is intrigued by this, and plans on going over to the bridge to help out. When he gets there, he realizes that it was a trap, and the Northerners had tricked him into going to the bridge. The Northerners took the man, put a noose around his neck, and have him walk out to the end of a plank, with a general balancing the plank on the other side. Then, the general steps off the plank, sending the man in an instant downward motion. The man feels instant pressure on his neck. However, soon after, the man feels coolness. He realizes that the rope had broken and he had plummeted into the creek. He broke free of the ropes constraining his hands, and began to swim down the creek. The general tries to take a few shots at him with his hand gun, but somehow miraculously misses. The man swims downstream for a long time, and is eventually hurled onto shore by a huge wave. At this point, the story seems almost too good to be true. The man is so desperately thirsty, but he presses on anyway. He searches through the jungle going the direction that he thinks his house is in. He hardly remembers his journey through the woods and concludes that he must have been sleep walking. All he remembers is getting to his house. He starts his decent to the front door, where his wife is waiting for him, when BAM! The man is shot from behind and dies. This is where the story eludes that the rope holding the man never actually broke. The escape of the man that seemed too good to be true, was indeed too good to be true. It was created in the man's imagination while he was losing oxygen because he was hanging from a noose (Bierce).

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce. Read It Now for Free! (Homepage)." Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.

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