"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"- Ambrose Bierce

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce has many examples of the Realism writing style.  One of which is its plain attention to detail.  That in itself is a prime example of a Realism writing. The main character is also middle class.  This may seem strange to relate to realism, but the fact that the main character was middle class is an indication of realism writings because the middle class is the main voice of realism(Renfro).

"If I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance."

In this quote above, Ambrose Bierce explains what it is like to be a part of the civil war and wanting to escape from it.   You kind of feel sorry for this guy.  Once the reader wades through the confusion of having the story go back in forth like time zones, we as the reader realizes that he just wants to go back to his family, but ends up being tortured by who I believe to be confederates(Bierce). He did not want slavery.  This is where the ideas  of Ralph Waldo Emerson sort of seep into this sad story.  Ralph Waldo Emerson did not believe in or want slavery either.  This also relates to Henry David Thoreau's philosophy of Civil Disobedience.  This was standing up for what you thought was the right thing regardless of laws or rules in place. This can be seen within the story through the main character's struggle with the soldiers that killed him.  He was standing up for what he truly believed in, even if it was hidden from him at the time by fear of death essentially(Bierce).



Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Online http://fiction.eserver.org/short/occurrence_at_owl_creek.html. February 16,2012.

Renfro, Y. P. "'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0691&SingleRecord=True.