Perspectives

Here, we will offer you some points that can help you put the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce into perspective.

Literary period

Ambrose Bierce is a representative author of the literary movement we call Realism. This movement has appeared in the mid-nineteenth century, and it is characterized by a focus on characters rather than on plot. As you have seen, the plot in the story is very simple, and the focus is more on Farquhar’s feelings and thoughts instead of the action. Then, Realism also focuses on the psychology of the characters. Ambrose Bierce has constructed Farquhar with great attention to his psychology, and he has rendered Farquhar’s thoughts with the help of the technique called stream of consciousness. Realism also focuses on class and real-life events. Bierce himself was inv...