An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Themes
Versions of Reality
In many ways, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is all about interpretation. Farquhar's understanding of the world around him and the reader's perception of what happens to Farquhar are closely t...
Time
You don't need us to tell you that time doesn't always seem to move at the same pace. When you're eagerly awaiting a text from your crush, time can move sooo slowly. But when you're cramming for th...
Justice and Judgment
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is all about a civilian being hanged for a crime during a time of war – without a trial. During the American Civil War, both the Union and Confederate governme...
Warfare
Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War vet, so he's just the kind of guy we want to tell us about what the war was really like. Not surprisingly, Bierce doesn't come off as a huge fan of war. In all of his...
Death
What separates life from death? Minutes? Seconds? Our minds? "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" doesn't give us a definitive answer, but it does complicate and explore issues of consciousness, awa...