or does he?īierce's most famous work and one of the most famous works of 19th century American literature, and a topic in high school English classes since forever.Īdapted by French filmmaker Robert Enrico into the 1962 short film, An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge (original French title La Riviere du hibou, 'The Owl River'). Eventually he scrambles onto shore and, after many hours traipsing through the woods, arrives home at his plantation and greets his wife. He manages to free his hands from the ropes binding them and swim away downstream as Union bullets pepper the river. Farquhar’s dropped off the bridge but the rope snaps, plunging him into the water below. Chapter II fills in How We Got Here: Farquhar, who never got around to joining the army but likes to play at being a rebel, attempted to sabotage the bridge, but was caught, the Confederate who told him about the bridge actually being a Union scout.Ĭhapter III is the most famous part of the story. At the end of Chapter I, he’s dropped off the bridge. As the story opens he’s on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. Peyton Farquhar is a 'planter' - that is, a slave-owner and plantation owner - and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in The American Civil War. It’s set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' is an 1890 short story by Ambrose Bierce.

An occurrence at owl creek bridge