An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce's "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story that is indispensable in any anthology of short stories. Located in the historic event that was the 1860 Civil War between the states of the North and the South, the author paints a feverish landscape where the outer vision is mixed with the subjectivity of the hero Peyton Fahrquhar, dragging and involving the reader into the phantasmal action where Peyton agonistes builds a parallel reality but far more superior and palatable than objective reality. Not only is the story suspenseful, but also well measured in its description of the landscape. Of course a war story has to be violent, yet in the midst of fighting the author manages to convey a message of fidelity, loyalty--and love for wife and family