This essay analyzes the theme of suspense in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The mystery story by Ambrose Bierce, that was written in 1890, focuses on the life of a middle-aged man called Peyton Farquhar. The plot of the story unfolds at the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865). For trespassing on the Owl Creek Bridge, Peyton is condemned to death by hanging upon the same bridge. A Confederate sympathizer, Peyton Farquhar is shown to be already bound at the edge of the bridge as the story starts. As much as the central part of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” essay is set in Peyton’s mind, it culminates in a curious twist in the plot. However, one does not realize this quickly until the end of the story. Only then the reader learns that Farquhar has died and is hanging with a broken neck from the edge of the bridge. In summary, all three parts of “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” are suspense-filled.
The author captures the reader’s attention with elements of horror and suspense throughout the story. As the story begins, the reader is introduced to a man having a noose around his neck, “The man’s hands were behind his back, his wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck” (A.Bierce, 1).
However, the reader is not told the reason for this sad beginning. Therefore, this beginning sentence cements the reader tightly and instantly into the story. One understands later that a confederate soldier had told the main character in the story about the bridge. One can only imagine that he is the one who tried to destroy the bridge since his fate is to be concealed by hanging from that same bridge.
Subsequently, as the noose breaks, the reader almost sees if the prisoner can flee from the Union forces and make it back to his wife and children. All through the short story, the reader is on edge to see if, in any case, Peyton can survive the ordeal. However, the optimism is soon taken away when the reader realizes that he was hanging from the bridge.
In the story, the author uses a third-person narrator with a limited omniscient point of view that creates a tone of analysis in describing Peyton’s experience before passing away. The author recreates a significant period for a man who is about to die. This brief moment is perceived to be the better part of a full day. As Bierce succeeds in portraying the most intimate thoughts of Peyton as he struggles to escape from the hangman, it creates a dramatic journey of anxiety and suspense.
In the journey, he seems to escape the hangman and manage to get back to his family once again, as demonstrated by the quote “As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were flashed into the doomed man’s brain rather than evolved from it, the captain nodded to the sergeant” (Bierce, 4). As we take note of this significant period, it appears to last for the better part of the day. Still, as the story ends, one realizes that it was only taking place in the mind of the main character.
Moreover, the reader realizes that it was only the last moments of his life just before the hangman’s rope broke his neck and rendered him lifeless.
Even though the hanging is an important part of the plot of the story, it remains in the shadows of it. The author creates and maintains suspense by tricking the reader that Peyton escapes the ordeal. With the rope around his neck, the reader expects him to die. However, he plunges into a river filled with different kinds of animal images.
Instead of dying, the author gives the main character in the story an explosion of life. This literary technique makes the reader hooked into the text to be acquainted with the details of the profound occurrence of Peyton’s demise than would a less knowing point of view.
To heighten and consistently create suspense in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, the author uses a variation on the gothic tension-release technique. He achieves this by giving the reader images that are strange, hopeful, but quiet. He then hits the reader with a barrage of bullets and pain and, all of a sudden, the main character is off and swimming or trying to escape.
Bierce intentionally employs this tension-release effect on numerous occasions throughout the story to maintain suspense before the unexpected ending. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” features an abundance of literary techniques aimed to change the reader’s mood drastically. Before enhancing the sense of tension and suspense using gunfire or sadness, the author takes us into a state of tranquil, but strange occurrences take place first.
The reader is taken back and forth from near-death experiences to sweet illustrations of life, to pictures of life after death, to the physical reality of getting hurt, and eventually nearly into the re-union with Peyton’s family members. Instead, the story’s finale is a sad note with the death of Peyton Farquhar.
Works Cited
Bierce, Ambrose. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Enfield, N.S.W.: Royal Blind Society, 1988.