War
The theme of war is depicted rather like a canvas for the story: it’s background. The events take place in Alabama in the period of the Civil War between the American North and South. The protagonist of the story - Peyton Farquhar is a southern slave owner, who is, by the way, the politician also. A federal about came once to his house and told him the news about an Owl Creek Bridge so the planter got caught by the federal forces and was waiting for his death. War is shoved as a struggle for living and ambitions, not the struggle for truth and peace, as it often depicted. War makes people do things they don’t really want to, and it makes them cruel and blind to the pleas of others.
Struggle for life
The theme of life and struggle for it despite anything is the leading one in the story. The protagonist’s endless efforts to save his life from soldiers, to find his way home are depicted precisely to create the effect of trustworthiness. His pain and sweat and blood doesn’t matter for him, since the only thing that matters is his life, and he does more than he can to save it. Indeed, in front of death. many people begin finally value their lives, they don’t want to lose it anymore and they use every possible opportunity to rescues themselves, even if there are no powers left, there is still a hope.
Hope
The man, dedicated to be executed in a few moments, yet can’t leave his hopes for rescue. He thinks about his wife and children, about the perfect calm life he lived and he hopes, he hopes that there will come someone to save him, that the sudden noise not far from here is the voice of the soldiers of the southern army, and they came here to get him back from the arms of death. His hope is so strong that he finally hears these sounds, he sees himself in the river, diving deep to avoid the bullets, he sees himself in the forest, looking for his way home and then he finally gets it – the sun shines, his wife smiles and everything is as it was before. But it was just a dream, a lost hope that will never come true because the man is long dead. Sometimes our hopes are of no reason and they just poison us.
Death
The death in the narrative is depicted as a living being in the story. He has a high position among people, especially soldiers, who face him every day. They respect him, they stay motionless in front of him, they keep silence in front of him. People are afraid of death and he plays with people, making them think that they are still alive like it was in case with the protagonist – the narrator doesn’t says when exactly he died – was he hanged and then thrown into the river or the rope indeed broke and he died in the river – the reader can just guess. The thing is, he didn’t get out from it, since he wasn’t in the forest and he hadn’t seen his house – it was just a game of Death. He symbolizes the end of suffering and pain, a kind of relief.
