Thomas Drake

Gloria Estrada
English 1302 1:00 MWF
23 April 2009

Point of View in An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce, in his short story entitled An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge uses a

powerful transition of point of view. This brings about a good dramatic effect in the flow of the

story. The reader is given an insider’s look into the character’s mind. Bierce has a surprise in the

last paragraph that makes the story powerful, even though it’s short.

The overall success of a story depends on its plot. The plot depends on elements like

setting, tone, and characters. It even depends on the author’s use of point of view. The point of

view refers to the author’s voice in the story. The three major points of view are first person,

second person, and third person. Each one can be used more than once in a story. Daniel E.

Samide, a contributing author for the Literature Resource Center Database, wrote an article

entitled Anatomy of A Classic: Ambrose Bierce Cleverly Used Some Key Literary Tools in

Crafting His Civil War Tale: An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge. In this article, he explains

that, “Bierce chooses the only point of view possible for concealing Farquhar’s death….” (Daniel

E. Samide 4). This is true because the story suggests that Farquhar has escaped the hanging. For

example, Bierce writes, “He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. “If I could

free my hands,” he thought, “I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream”(Roberts

71). But, at the end, the reader is surprised to learn that Farquhar has already died.

Samide goes on to clarify that, “This perspective, often called limited omniscience,

features a third-person narrator who tells the story as an observer offstage”(Anatomy 4) This is

almost like a newspaper reporter writing an article. Edgar V. Roberts, in Literature:An

Introduction To Reading and Writing, discusses the ways that points of view can be interchanged.

He observes that, “Bierce keeps our attention focused on the reactions of the major character,

Peyton Farquhar, until the last paragraph of the story”(Roberts 114). The last paragraph is where

the surprising shift of point of view occurs. Bierce shows the reader that Faraquhar has been

hanged instead of seeming to escape. Roberts explains this unique literary effect when he writes

that, “This shift in point of view is an almost brutal pronouncement that none of Farquhar’s

hopes can ever come true”(Roberts 114). It is as if Bierce is playing mind games with his

readers. He makes us believe that his character has escaped the execution. But then he pulls the

curtains to reveal that Peyton Farquhar has been hanged. The last sentence reads, “Peyton

Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the

timbers of the Owl Creek Bridge”(Roberts 75). I do not think the audience quite expected that

ending. Concerning Farquhar’s illusory escape, Samide observes that, “His point of view

legitimately forces us to experience Farquhar’s hallucinated escape and thus believe in

it”(Anatomy 6). This literary device makes for an unexpectedly sombre ending. One moment we

are happy that he escaped. The next moment, we are shocked to learn that it was all a

hallucination. Even short stories can have surprises that the reader does not expect.

As shown above, Bierce uses limited omniscience to enhance the reader’s experience of

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge. The reader can see into Peyton Farquhar’s mind and feel

his pain. For example, in the story, Ambrose Bierce writes, “His neck was in pain and lifting his

hand to it found it horribly swollen”(Roberts 75). Bierce’s dramatic point of view heightens this

effect. Samide points out in his article that, “Bierce chooses the only point of view possible for

concealing Farquar’s death-a first necessity if he wishes to mystify us”(Anatomy 4). And mystify

us he does! The use of flashback complements the point of view. Samide elaborates on this by
Thomas Drake
Gloria Estrada
English 1302 1:00 MWF
23 April 2009

saying that, “The narrator enters Farquar’s mind and stays there through Farquhar’s entire

hallucination of escape”(Anatomy 5). In the story, for example, Bierce writes, “He closed his

eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children”(Roberts 71).

Bierce created an amazing short story through his creative usage of limited omniscience.

He allowed his readers to enter his character’s mind and experience his hanging. His hallucinated

escape packed an emotional punch. Just when we though things were well, we get a sombre

surprise. That is the magic of stories. When you least expect it, good or bad things can happen to

the character in the story.

Works Cited
Daniel E. Samide. "Anatomy of a Classic: Ambrose Bierce Cleverly Used Some Key
Elements...." May 2005. EPCC Library Databases. 21 April 2009 <http://0-
go.galegroup.com.lib.epcc.edu/ps/printdoc.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=REL...>.
Roberts, Edgar V. Literature: An Introduction To Reading and Writing. 4th. New
Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2008.