An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Book Review

People like to to romanticize a lot of parts of history wether it be the beautiful fashion or paintings, but war should not be one of things. In the story ‘occurrence at owl creek bridge’ Farquhar learns that there is no glory or romance in war; it is a brutal exercise in which human lives have no value and death becomes merely an “occurrence.”

Ambrose Bierce Uses the shifts in perspective to contribute to the theme, the brutality of the war, in the story “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by deceitfulness, stubbornness and insanity. We can observe Farquhar being duped during the Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. A gray-clad soldier approached the gate and requested a drink of water... Farquhar approached the dusty horseman and anxiously inquired about the situation on the front lines. “The Yanks are fixing the rails and getting ready for another advance,” the man explained. They've made it to the Owl Creek bridge, where they've repaired it and established a stockade on the north bank... Any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels, or trains will be summarily hanged,” This illustrates that soldiers are capable of being deceitful to get what they want. This is tied very closely with stubbornness. Once Farquhar is caught, Ambrose Bierce explains the human drive to avoid or evade death, as well as what happens physiologically and psychologically upon death. 

When he's tied to a bridge with a noose over his neck and surrounded by Union soldiers, a part of Farquhar hopes to get out of it by being stubborn. Bierce stresses that death is unavoidable no matter how stubborn someone is by not allowing Farquhar to flee. “If I could free my hands,” he reasoned, “I could dodge the bullets by diving and swimming fiercely to the bank, take to the woods, and get away home...' This is shows that Farquhar not being to escape and stubbornly, thinking he can escape is a perspective of how death is unavoidable no matter how much people long to avoid it or try to change it. All of this ties back to insanity.

Two perspectives on insanity are shown. Farquhar, for example, is romanticizing battle in an attempt to attain glory.  And everyone else around him, including the military, believes that human lives are worthless and that death is only a "occurrence." “he chafed under the inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction. That opportunity, he felt, would come, as it comes to all in wartime” This illustrated that the use of perspective help contribute to the theme.

To sum it up Many aspects of history are romanticized by many people, but war should not be one of them. Farquhar learns this is the story "occurrence at owl creek bridge" that war has no glory or romance. The way Ambrose Bierce Uses the shifts in perspective to contribute to the theme, the brutality of the war, in the story “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” helps us understand the story in many different lights.