"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
Author	Ambrose Bierce
Country	USA
Language	English
Genre(s)	short story
Published in	Tales of Soldiers and Civilians
Publication date	1890

For the Twilight Zone episode of the same name, see An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (film).

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (sometimes called "An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge") is a short story by Ambrose Bierce. It was originally published in 1890, and first anthologized in Bierce's 1891 collection, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. The story is famous for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – 1914?) was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, today best known for his Devils Dictionary. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is in need of attention. ... The Twilight Zone is a television series created by Rod Serling. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – 1914?) was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, today best known for his Devils Dictionary. ... A twist ending or surprise ending is an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, and which often contains irony or causes the audience to reevaluate the narrative or characters. ...

Plot summary

Set during the American Civil War, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is the story of Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate sympathizer condemned to die by hanging upon the Owl Creek Bridge of the title. The main character finds himself already bound at the bridge's edge at the beginning of the story. It is later revealed that a disguised Union scout enlisted him to attempt to demolish the bridge, and subsequently he was caught in the act. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial)  States that seceded under CSA control  States and territories claimed by CSA without formal secession and/or control Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ...

Part I

A gentlemanly planter in his mid-30s is standing on a railroad bridge in Alabama. Six military men and a company of infantry men are present. The man is to be hanged. As he is waiting, he thinks of his wife and children. Then he is distracted by a tremendous noise. He can not identify this noise, other than that it sounds like the clanging of a blacksmith's hammer on the anvil. He can not tell if it was far away or near by. He finds himself apprehensively awaiting each strike, which seem to grow farther and farther apart. It is revealed that this noise is the ticking of his watch. Then, an escape plan flashes through his mind, "throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, take to the woods and get away home." His thoughts stray back to his wife and children. The soldiers drop him down.

Part II

Peyton Farquhar is a planter in his 30s. He lives in the South and is a major Confederate supporter, even though he is not even in the military. He goes out of his way to perform services to support and help the Confederate side. One day, a grey-clad soldier appears at his house and tells Farquhar that the Union soldiers repairing the railroads are at the nearby Owl Creek Bridge. Farquhar takes interest and asks if it is possible to sabotage the stockade the soldiers had set up, to which the soldier tells him that he could burn it down. When the soldier leaves, it is revealed that he is a Union soldier who has tempted Farquhar into a trap.

Part III

When he is hanged, the rope breaks. Farquhar falls into the water. While underwater, he seems to take little interest in the fact that his hands, who now have a life of their own, are freeing themselves and untying the rope from around his neck. Once he finally reaches the surface, he realizes his senses are superhuman. He can see the individual blades of grass and the colors of bugs on the leaves of trees, despite the fact that he is whirling around in a river. Once he realizes that the men are shooting at him, he escapes and makes it to dry land. He travels through an uninhabited and seemingly-unending forest, attempting to reach his home 30 miles away. During his journey through the day and night, he is fatigued, footsore, and famished, urged on by the thought of his wife and children. He starts to experience strange physiological events, hear unusual noises from the wood, and believes he has fallen asleep while walking. He wakes up to see his home, with his beautiful wife outside it. As he runs forward to reach her, he suddenly feels a searing pain in his neck, a white light flashes, and everything goes black.

It is revealed that Farquhar never escaped at all; he imagined the entire third part of the story during the time between falling through the bridge and the noose finally breaking his neck.

Adaptations

At least four film adaptations of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" have been produced. This article is about motion pictures. ...

• A silent movie made in 1929 titled The Spy.

• A TV version of this story was telecast in 1959 during the 5th season of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV anthology series starring Ronald Howard, the son of Leslie Howard.

• A French version called La Rivière du Hibou, directed by Robert Enrico and produced by Marcel Ichac and Paul de Roubaix, was released in 1962. Filmed in black and white, it later went on to win the award for best short subject at the 1962 Cannes film festival and 1963 Academy Awards. In 1964 La Rivière du Hibou aired on American television as an episode of the anthology series The Twilight Zone. See An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (film).

• In 2006, Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories was released which contains adaptations of three of Ambrose Bierce's short stories, among them "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" directed by Brian James Egan. The DVD also contains an extended version of the story with more background and detail than the one included in the trilogy.

• Several radio series adapted the story for broadcast, including Escape in 1947, Suspense in 1959, and CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the 1970s.

This article is about the comedy film. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Spione (English title: Spies) is a German silent espionage thriller written and directed by Fritz Lang in 1928. ... Alfred Hitchcock Presents was an anthology television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. ... ANThology is the first major label album by Alien Ant Farm released on March 6, 2001 in the USA and March 19, 2001 in the UK. // Their first single, Smooth Criminal, was a cover of Michael Jacksons song Smooth Criminal, which started to bring popularity to the band. ... Ronald Howard (7 April 1918 – 19 December 1996) was an English actor and writer, best known in the U.S. for starring in a weekly Sherlock Holmes television series in 1954, which was produced by Sheldon Reynolds. ... Leslie Howard (April 3, 1893 - June 1, 1943) was an English stage and Academy Award nominated film actor. ... Robert Enrico (April 13, 1931 - February 23, 2001) was a French film director and scriptwriter. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Black-and-white is a broad adjectival term used to describe a number of monochrome forms of visual arts. ... Early American actor William Garwood starred in numerous short films, many of which were only 20 minutes in length Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American film industry in the early period of cinema. ... The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the worlds oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... The Twilight Zone is a television series created by Rod Serling. ... Escape was radios leading series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Suspense, one of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled radios outstanding theater of thrills. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The CBS Radio Mystery Theater logo The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT) was an ambitious and sustained attempt in the 1970s to revive the great drama of old-time radio. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

References in literature and popular culture

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• Flan O Brien's Novel The Third Policeman recounts a somewhat similar plot and twist, involving an escape from a hanging death and a journey home.
• Sir William Golding's novel Pincher Martin uses a similar artifice as Bierce's story, and Golding admits the similarity in an afterword to the novel.
• Another literary work that can be thought of as an adumbration of the Owl Creek Bridge theme is the short story "The Secret Miracle" by Jorge Luis Borges.
• David Lynch's movie Lost Highway is thought to be based on this story as well.
• Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, Terry Gilliam's Brazil, M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense and Richard Linklater's Waking Life, are also very similar in regard to the specific plot twist at the ends of each of the works.
• The 1962 film Carnival of Souls, the 1990 psychological horror film Jacob's Ladder, and the 2005 film Stay were inspired by "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (the first film and the third took place on a bridge), along with countless others.
• Richard Kelly, the director of Donnie Darko has said it was an inspiration for his film.
• Lucille Fletcher used a similar plot for her story "The Hitch-hiker", which was itself adapted as a memorable episode of television's The Twilight Zone.
• In 2005, Kurt Vonnegut referred to "Occurrence" in his book A Man Without a Country as one of the greatest works of American literature, and called anyone who hadn't read it a "twerp".
• In 2006, Bierce's story was referenced on an episode of the ABC television series Lost entitled "The Long Con".
• At the end of "My Occurrence", an episode of the TV series Scrubs, it becomes apparent that the lead character has imagined many of the events of the episode as he does not want to believe that a friend has cancer.
• There is a reference to this story and its author on the side of the main character's truck in Konami's survival horror game Silent Hill: Origins.
• In rapper DMX's song ATF on It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, ATF agents are at the door, ready to raid his apartment. Following the tale of an elaborate escape and shootout, it is revealed that the last thing he hears is the ATF at the door.
• This short story is in the Language and Literature section of the 2007 Academic Decathlon curriculum.
• It also inspired The Doobie Brothers song "I Cheat The Hangman".

Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... The Third Policeman is Flann OBriens second novel, written in 1939 and 1940 but not published until 1967, after the authors death. ... Sir William Gerald Golding (September 19, 1911 - June 19, 1993) is a Cornish novelist and poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1983) for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world... Pincher Martin (Faber and Faber 1956) is the third novel by William Golding (author of Lord of the Flies). ... The Secret Miracle is a short story by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. ... Borges redirects here. ... For other persons named David Lynch, see David Lynch (disambiguation). ... For the Bon Jovi album, see Lost Highway (album). ... Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (IPA: AmE: ; Ita: []) (b. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, animator, and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. ... Brazil (first released on February 20, 1985) is a dystopic comedy film directed by Monty Python member Terry Gilliam. ... Manoj Nelliattu Shyamalan (born August 6, 1970), known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, //, is an Academy Award nominated screenwriter and director, who also performs smaller roles in his own movies. ... For the ability sometimes referred to as sixth sense, see Extra-sensory perception. ... Richard Rick Linklater (born July 30, 1961, in Houston, Texas) is an Academy Award nominated American film director and writer. ... Waking Life is a digitally rotoscoped and animated film, directed by Richard Linklater and made in 2001. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carnival of Souls is a horror cult film released in 1962. ... This article is about the year. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Stay is an American film directed by Marc Forster and written by David Benioff. ... For the fictional character, see Donald Darko. ... Lucille Fletcher (March 28, 1912 — August 31, 2000) was a film and television screenwriter. ... “The Hitch-Hiker” is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone. ... The Twilight Zone is a television series created by Rod Serling. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... A Man Without a Country is a collection of essays published in 2005 by the author Kurt Vonnegut. ... The year 2006 in television involved some significant events. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American television network. ... LOST redirects here. ... The Long Con is the 37th episode of Lost. ... My Occurrence is the 22nd episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. ... Scrubs is an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning American situation comedy/comedy-drama that premiered on October 2, 2001 on NBC. It was created by Bill Lawrence and is produced by Touchstone Television. ... Its Dark and Hell is Hot is a hip hop album by American rapper DMX, released in 1998. ... The United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) is one of the premier academic competitions in the United States. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

External links

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