The Setting in the Ambrose Bierce’s Story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is better than in the Movie

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Tracy Spurlock

Dr. S. Thompson

English 1302

12 April 2010

The Setting in the Ambrose Bierce's Story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is better than in the Movie.

Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" does a better job at carrying the plot more effectively than Director Robert Enrico did in his film production of the same title. The words used by Bierce are very descriptive from the very beginning of the story to the very end and help to a concrete foundation for the plot. He describes the soldiers, the river, and insects, plants, and trees that the main character sees during his delusion.

The way the story describes the Army Soldiers from the way they stand to where they are standing helps to set the tone for the story. There are two Sentinels, two Privates, a Sergeant, and a Captain that are going to play integral parts in the hanging.

The Privates are directed to be the Executioners by the Sergeant (Paragraph 1). At each end of the bridge there stands a Sentinel with their rifles in a "support" position facing outward, their main priority is to keep people off the bridge and not to worry about what was happening on the bridge. (Paragraph 1) The Captain and Sergeant are both holding down the plank that Peyton Farquhar is standing on waiting to be hung. (Paragraph 4) When it is, time draws closer to follow through with the hanging, the Sergeant salutes the Captain, and the Captain then moves off the plank. (Paragraph 4) This is when Farquhar stares down to the river below.

Without the descriptions that are given in the story we would not be able to imagine the river below...