The Occurrence at Owl Creek is a realistic portrayal of a dream state.
This story by Ambrose Bierce has received more critical attention that any other piece of work by him. It is obvious that this story is way ahead of its" time. Peter Stoicheff from Newberry College said it was "something uncanny" " Each motion associated with Farquhar's hanging can be seen affecting the dream he and the reader are immersed in until the very last part of the story". Occurrence at Owl Creek dramatizes hope in the face of death, and sets a writing style that is still used today in suspense novels and films.
Ambrose Bierce was born in Ohio in 1842. He started out as a brilliant journalist for the Cosmopolitan, and was cited as being bitter in most of his writings for that paper. The Cosmopolitan is where Ambrose basically started the "writing" chapter of his life. . During this time he became highly influenced by Edgar Allan Poe for his twisted page turning writings, and his depiction of life and death. Bierce later wrote tales of his Civil War experiences which gave him a lot of recognition, but the one that got the most attention was Occurrence at Owl Creek. He later settled in San Francisco where he married the daughter of a wealthy miner. He divorced her in 1904, and severed all family connections. Ambrose became friends with Mark Twain and many other writers of that time. Ambrose wasn't as well known as these writers; however, he was described as being destined for maximum potential. Later he became tired of America and fled to Mexico in 1913 where he disappeared, and was later believed to have been killed fighting Poncho Villa and his army. His body was never found. Ambrose Bierce was called "a difficult genius who never attained full stature." .
The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge takes place during the civil war and shows a writing style that is seldom used in this period of time.