History Literature / AnOccurrenceAtOwlCreekBridge

Bierce's most famous work and one of the most famous works of 19th century American literature, and a topic in [[UsefulNotes/SchoolStudyMedia high school English classes]] since forever.

Adapted 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"). The movie won a UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for short film, and was later edited and broadcast for American television as an episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'', with the audio track completely replaced and Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added. The story had previously been adapted as an episode of ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' in 1959.

* HellIsThatNoise: As Farquhar is being prepared for execution, he starts to hear a series of metallic striking sounds that slowly grow sharper and farther apart, driving him to the point of wanting to scream. It's actually just the ticking of his watch.

* AdaptedOut: As the film excises Chapter II, the supposed Confederate soldier who turned out to be a Union scout and lured Farquhar to the bridge is omitted.

* SilenceIsGolden: In the ''Twilight Zone'' version there is no dialogue except for the shouts of Union soldiers as Farquhar gets away.

* DyingDream: The UrExample and still one of the most famous instances in fiction. All of Chapter III turns out to be the dying dream Farquhar had in the final second where he was dropped and had his neck snapped on the bridge.
* TheEndingChangesEverything: Farquhar didn't escape after all; Chapter III is a long DyingDream.

Adapted 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"). The movie won a UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for short film, and was later edited and broadcast for American television as an episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'', with all of the original audio removed and Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added. The story had previously been adapted as an episode of ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' in 1959.

* BladeOfGrassCut: While Farquhar is in the river and being shot at after freeing himself from the noose, he looks at the forest on the riverbank and sees the individual leaves on the trees and the insects on them: flies, spiders, and locusts. It serves as another hint that he's hallucinating the whole thing (how would he be able to see the tiny bugs on the trees while in the middle of a river?).

* BladeOfGrassCut: While Farquhar is in the river and being shot at after freeing himself from the noose, he looks at the forest on the riverbank and sees the individual leaves on the trees and the insects on them: flies, spiders, and locusts. It serves as another hint that he's hallucinating the whole thing (how would he be able to see the tiny bugs on the trees while in the middle of a river)?

* AssholeVictim: The reader is not meant to feel any sympathy for Farquhar, the narration reminding us that he's a slaveowner who fully supports the Confederacy.
-->Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician,

* HangingAround: The story revolves around a Confederate sympathizer being led to hang by a group of Union soldiers. In the third section the rope breaks and he manages to escape, which would make this a subversion. HOWEVER, the infamous TwistEnding [[TheReveal reveals]] that [[DoubleSubversion the rope ''[[DoubleSubversion didn't]]'' [[DoubleSubversion break]] and he's been DeadAllAlong since the end of the first part of the story.

* HangingAround: The story revolves around a Confederate sympathizer being led to hang by a group of Union soldiers. In the third section the rope breaks and he manages to escape, which would make this a subversion. HOWEVER, the infamous TwistEnding [[TheReveal reveals]] that [[DoubleSubversion the rope ''didn't'' break]] and he's been DeadAllAlong since the end of the first part of the story.

It is set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. Peyton Farquhar is a "planter" -- that is, a slave-owner and plantation owner -- and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. As the story opens he is on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I, he is dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in HowWeGotHere: Farquhar, who [[ArmchairMilitary 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.

Chapter III is the most famous part of the story. Farquhar is dropped off the bridge but the rope snaps, plunging him into the water below. He manages to free his hands from the ropes binding them and swim away downstream as Union bullets pepper the river. Eventually he scrambles onto shore and, after many hours traipsing through the woods, arrives home at his plantation and greets his wife... [[DeadAllAlong or does he]]?

* OddballInTheSeries: The only episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' that was not originally ''made'' as a ''Twilight Zone'' episode. Serling's introduction notes how strange the situation is.

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* HangingAround: The story revolves around a Confederate sympathizer being led to hang by a group of Union soldiers. In the third section the rope breaks and he manages to escape, which would make this a subversion. [[spoiler:HOWEVER, the infamous TwistEnding [[TheReveal reveals]] that [[DoubleSubversion the rope ''didn't'' break]] and he's been DeadAllAlong since the end of the first part of the story]].

** There's actually a fair amount of hints towards the end that something is not right. The road is described as unnaturally straight, like an "illustration of perspective", and completely empty. Farquhar sees "golden stars...grouped in strange constellations" and hears "whispers from an unknown tongue." He can't feel the road beneath his feet. And at the end he just sort of appears at the front of his mansion, as if he'd "recovered from a delirium."

Bierce's most famous work and one of the most famous works of 19th century American literature, and a topic in [[SchoolStudyMedia high school English classes]] since forever.

* YouMakeMeSic: The English language title of the film was originally ''An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge''. The re-edited ''Twilight Zone'' version correctly spelled it "occurrence."

* HangingAround: The story revolves around a Confederate sympathizer being led to hang by a group of Union soldiers. In the third section the rope breaks and he manages to escape, which would make this a subversion. [[spoiler:HOWEVER, the infamous TwistEnding [[TheReveal reveals]] that [[DoubleSubversion the rope ''didn't'' break]] and he's been DeadAllAlong since the end of the first part of the story]].]]

* HangingAround: The story revolves around a Confederate sympathizer being led to hang by a group of Union soldiers. In the third section the rope breaks and he manages to escape, which would make this a subversion. [[spoiler:HOWEVER, the infamous TwistEnding [[TheReveal reveals]] that [[DoubleSubversion the rope ''didn't'' break]] and he's been DeadAllAlong since the end of the first part of the story]].]]

* ItWasHisSled: We haven't even bothered putting up spoiler tags.

[[caption-width-right:350:Hi, honey, I'm home!]]

Adapted 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"). The movie won a UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for short film, and was later shown in its entirety on American television as an episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'', with Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added. It had previously been adapted as an episode of ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' in 1959.

It is set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. Peyton Farquhar is a "planter" -- that is, a slave-owner and plantation owner-- and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. As the story opens he is on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I, he is dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in HowWeGotHere: Farquhar, who [[ArmchairMilitary 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.