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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
- 158 statements
- 30 feature instances
- 7 referencing feature instances
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge | comment |
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an 1890 short story by Ambrose Bierce.It’s 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 The American Civil War. As the story opens he’s on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I, he’s dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in How We Got Here: Farquhar, who 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’s 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... or does he?Bierce's most famous work and one of the most famous works of 19th century American literature, and a topic in 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 Palme d'Or and an Academy Award for short film, and was later edited and broadcast for American television as an episode of The Twilight Zone, with the audio track completely replaced and Rod Serling's opening and closing narration added. The story had previously been adapted as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_118a41d5 | type |
Daydream Surprise | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_118a41d5 | comment |
Daydream Surprise: Farquhar's escape and flight home is an extended daydream. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_1b590025 | type |
Dead All Along | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_1b590025 | comment |
Dead All Along: Turns out Farquhar died at the end of the first chapter of the story. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_272abb98 | type |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_272abb98 | comment |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: All of Chapter III is a dying dream. And for that matter he never even had a chance to burn the bridge, as the "Confederate soldier" who told him about it was actually a Union scout. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_33aa30e3 | type |
The Man They Couldn't Hang | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_33aa30e3 | comment |
The Man They Couldn't Hang: Well, he thought he was this. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_33d5b7f2 | type |
Adapted Out | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: 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.note The earlier Alfred Hitchcock Presents adaptation included the Union scout (played by James Coburn). | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_3c670a1b | type |
Color-Coded Eyes | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_3c670a1b | comment |
Color-Coded Eyes: Farquhar notes the gray eyes of a man taking aim at him with a rifle and thinks about how people with gray eyes are the best sharpshooters. (This is another bit of foreshadowing that Chapter III is unreality. How could Farquhar make out the eye color of the man sniping at him from far away?) | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_49c62f72 | type |
Agent Provocateur | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_49c62f72 | comment |
Agent Provocateur: The gray-clad soldier who stops at the Farquhar mansion turns out to be a Union scout, obviously sent to flush out any civilians with sabotage on their minds. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_49c62f72 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_49cf2258 | type |
Hanging Around | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_49cf2258 | comment |
Hanging Around: 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 Twist Ending reveals that the rope didn't break and he's been Dead All Along since the end of the first part of the story. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_49cf2258 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_4e3d253b | type |
Downer Ending | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_4e3d253b | comment |
Downer Ending: Chapter III was an extended dying dream; Farquhar is hanging from the bridge, dead. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_4e3d253b | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_52989fee | type |
Narrator | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_52989fee | comment |
Narrator: In the original theatrical version only, there are bits of narration taken from the Bierce story, like the part where Farquhar muses about how he could escape if only he could free his hands. All of this was taken out of the Twilight Zone television version. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_52c3c556 | type |
Blade-of-Grass Cut | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_52c3c556 | comment |
Blade-of-Grass Cut: Right after Farquhar surfaces from the river, there are some extreme close ups of stuff like dew dripping from leaves, a caterpillar crawling across a leaf, and a spider wrapping up his lunch. This is a nod to the literary Blade Of Grass Cut in the story, in which Peyton takes acute notice of the minute details of his surroundings. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_52c3c556 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_53c9fc92 | type |
Flashback | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_53c9fc92 | comment |
Flashback: Chapter II gives some more detail about Farquhar and includes the scene where he encounters the supposed Confederate scout and hears about Union troops reaching Owl Creek and the bridge. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_53c9fc92 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_603f1a80 | type |
Pragmatic Adaptation | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_603f1a80 | comment |
Pragmatic Adaptation: Excises the Part II flashback, dramatizing only Farquhar's hanging and escape. Instead, the necessary info is imparted with a single shot of a poster announcing that the penalty for sabotage by civilians is death. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_63d861f8 | type |
Even Evil Has Loved Ones | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_63d861f8 | comment |
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Farquhar genuinely loves his wife, and his only goal after "escaping" is to get home to her. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_7d3f1d63 | type |
The Ending Changes Everything | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_7d3f1d63 | comment |
The Ending Changes Everything: The very last sentence reveals that Farquhar never escaped at all; Chapter III is a long Dying Dream. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_7d3f1d63 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_81a1960f | type |
Silence Is Golden | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_81a1960f | comment |
Silence Is Golden: In the Twilight Zone version, the only spoken words consist of the commands given during Farquhar's hanging and subsequent escape, and his internal repeating of his wife's name. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_81a1960f | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_8ed5c6e4 | type |
Asshole Victim | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_8ed5c6e4 | comment |
Asshole Victim: The reader is not meant to feel any sympathy for Farquhar, as the narration reminds us that he's a slaveowner who fully supports the Confederacy. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_8ed5c6e4 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_93deab19 | type |
Ominous Fog | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_93deab19 | comment |
Ominous Fog: The scene at the bridge is fog-bound with mist rising from the river, a detail which sets the mood but is absent from the Bierce story. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_93deab19 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_93decddf | type |
Ominous Owl | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_93decddf | comment |
Ominous Owl: A hooting owl sets the ominous mood at the start of the story, appropriately enough for Owl Creek. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_93decddf | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9a158325 | type |
Gothic Horror | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9a158325 | comment |
Gothic Horror: Ranks right up there with Edgar Allan Poe as one of the most iconic examples in literature. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9a158325 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: The film mostly lacks the cues found in the story and listed under Foreshadowing above, but it does have one major clue of its own: the gates of Farquhar's mansion open by themselves. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9d12bbc1 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9fe18440 | type |
Whip Pan | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9fe18440 | comment |
Whip Pan: The camera spins around as Farquhar struggles in the river, a duplication of a scene from the story in which he's caught in a vortex and spun around. | |
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_9fe18440 | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_a62dca03 | type |
Year Inside, Hour Outside | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_a62dca03 | comment |
Year Inside, Hour Outside: A Dying Dream variant. Farquhar has a dream that seems to last hours, when actually it all takes place in one or two seconds at most. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_a7382a73 | type |
Imagine Spot | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_a7382a73 | comment |
Imagine Spot: Before he takes the drop, there is a brief shot of Farquhar imagining his wife and children in the front of his mansion. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_ae5686dd | type |
Terrible Ticking | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_ae5686dd | comment |
Terrible Ticking: 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. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_c3ae004a | type |
Re-Cut | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_c3ae004a | comment |
Re-Cut: The Twilight Zone version was re-edited for television. Several shots received minor edits to make the film a little bit shorter to fit in the time allotted. More significantly, all of the original soundtrack—Farquhar's Inner Monologue, the chatter of the soldiers at the bridge, the music, and even a song—was removed. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_e11b003d | type |
Translation Convention | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_e11b003d | comment |
Translation Convention: Inconsistently applied in the original French theatrical version. The chatter of the Union soldiers is in English, but Farquhar's internal monologue is in French. | |
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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_f068cba | type |
Oddball in the Series | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_f068cba | comment |
Oddball in the Series: 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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| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_f792bc7b | type |
Dying Dream | |
| An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / int_f792bc7b | comment |
Dying Dream: The Ur-Example 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 short time between being dropped and getting his neck broken by the noose. | |
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