Plot

The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” focuses on Peyton Farquhar, a planter who lived in Alabama. The story starts by describing the current situation in which Peyton has a noose around his neck and is about to be hanged. The author goes into detail describing the observations of Peyton and his surroundings. He has a noose around his neck and is about to be hanged by the Federal Army. The story then shifts into the past, describing who Peyton Farquhar is and why he is about to be hanged. Peyton was guilty of planning to sabotage the plans of the Federal army and was to be hanged. All these ideas run through Peyton’s mind and he hallucinates a miraculous escape, which proves to be futile as he dies at the end of the story.

The author uses the importance of time and shifting time to develop the plot. The present time consists of Peyton with a noose around his neck ready to be hanged. The time then shifts to the past, giving history about Peyton and why he is in this predicament. After a brief flashback, time shifts back to the present, right when Peyton is about to be hanged. Right before he is hanged, he hallucinates a miraculous escape where he lands in the river and escapes death. His hallucination continues further as he makes his way into the forest and then sees his wife at his home. From there, time shifts back to the present, where Peyton dies. This shift in time, a recurring theme in the plot of this story, lures the reading into thinking that Peyton actually does escape death. The shifts in time establishes the character and plot of the story, giving depth into the past and into the future of what could have happened.