Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce’s, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," short story is broken up into three distinguishable parts. The parts are clearly labeled I, II, and III, yet they do no occur in chronological order. The appropriate chronological order of the story would be II, I, and III. The story begins in a third person point of view. In part I of the story only factual information that is relevant to the story is given, such as what the surrounding environment looks like, and describes the people that are present in the scene. None of the characters’ inner thoughts are explained. Also, in the first portion no explanation is given as to why a man is being executed, which leads the reader to question why and continue reading.
In the second portion of the story background information is given on the man being executed. This part of the story is told from a limited third person point of view. Only details and thoughts regarding the man being executed are used. Dialogue is also used in part two of the story which allows for a more personal touch and allows the reader to have a better understanding of the character. In part II we discover the reasoning behind Peyton Farquhar’s execution at Owl Creek Bridge.
In the part III of the story, there is an even more personal touch. It is told through Farquhar’s point of view and therefore we can see what is going on through his head, how he is feeling, and get to learn even more about him through his own perspective. Farquhar describes how he is able to escape and finally reach his home after all he went through. Then all of a sudden the story ends, and he is dead. A twist to the story was possible due to the point of view in which it was told. Farquhar never successfully escaped, a tricky scene for readers. The whole time he was simply imagining the event in his mind and how it would have happened, all while he was being hung.