An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

About the book

A civilian stands on a railway bridge under military guard, facing execution during the American Civil War. Bierce begins with the precise arrangement of bodies, equipment, and procedure before changing the reader's access to the condemned man's experience. Memories and heightened sensations complicate the apparently straightforward passage of time. The story is best approached without a detailed account of its later movements, because its structure makes the act of following events part of the experience. Its force comes from the contrast between an institution's impersonal routine and the mind's urgent investment in a possible future. Small sensory details acquire extraordinary significance, asking readers to notice how desire and danger can transform what a moment seems capable of containing.

• Time and perception
• War
• Desire to live

Why read it

For a brief narrative whose control of time and perspective makes its form essential to its emotional effect.

English text