"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story which keeps the reader in suspense throughout he narration, and then stuns the reader with an unexpected finale
The plot is concentrated just on one event – the procedure of hanging of the planter and salve owner in the period of the Civil war by northern soldiers. The duration of the events of the short story is about a few minutes, but these few minutes are full of tension and rich on emotional experience. In a brief space of time, the protagonist goes through the feeling of doom to resignation and then comes fear, hope for saving, pain, suffering, and finally – joy. The reader also goes through all these feelings with the hero, he feels the same, he wants the same and this effect of “being there” makes the story fascinating and unusual.
There are very few descriptions in the story; the main focus is given to the feelings and thoughts of the man, who is about to be hanged. In this case the story is more like the scientific research about the power of will and behavior of a human being in extraordinary situations.
The finale of the story is unexpected and shocking – when it seems that everything is finally over and the man is in safety now, it appears that he is long dead and his body is flowing in the river with the broken neck. And here comes the most interesting moment in the whole story – when exactly did the man die? The narrator kept this intrigue alive for the reader.
