An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was written by Ambrose Bierce, a writer who fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. It was a war-themed story about Alabama civilian Peyton Fahrquhar, who was sympathetic to the Confederate Army and the Southern cause. To aid the Confederate Army against the Union Army, he burned a railroad bridge used by the Union Army. He had been sentenced to death by hanging under the supervision of officers and soldiers of the Union Army. As the title also suggests, Fahrquhar's execution took place at Owl Creek Bridge. Before concluding the story, Ambrose makes a twist and makes readers wonder whether Fahrquhar is dead or not. But one thing is clear: Peyton Fahrquhar was willing to do anything to win the war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The theme of the story is “courage is not the absence of fear but rather the acceptance of it.” The second theme of this story is “time is fluid.” The theme of courage is not the absence of fear but rather the acceptance of it because Peyton Farquhar's corpse was compared to a pendulum which symbolized Peyton's emotions such as courage, fear, pain. and sadness. “The intellectual part of his nature was already erased; he only had the power to feel, and feeling was torment. He was aware of the movement. Wrapped in a luminous cloud, of which it was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, it swung through unthinkable arcs of swing, like a vast pendulum. This ties into the theme because it shows that he was both brave and fearful. Even though it was only a hallucination, before her death, Peyton showed great courage by running away from the Union soldiers and taking refuge in her home. Soldiers threw cannonballs and fired rifles into the water and banks trying to kill Peyton, and despite this, he still managed to escape because his family gave him hope. His family symbolizes home and security. “He closed his eyes to fix his last thoughts on his wife and children.” In his final moments all he wanted to do was think of his family because for him they represented the home and security that comforted him in his dying moments. The setting of this story is very important, especially the time period in which this story took place. The story is set in 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War. If the story wasn't set in this time period there would be no story because the entire story revolves around a man who was hanged for supporting the Confederacy. The author uses detailed descriptions which leaves me to infer that he wanted the reader to know the time period without actually saying that it occurred during the Civil War. The second theme of this story, time is fluid, is shown by the structure in which the author wrote this story. The story began with the present, then went into the past, before returning to the present. Awaiting his execution Farquhar closed his eyes and entered his mind during which time seemed to slow down. “He awaited each new blow with impatience and – he didn't know why – with apprehension. The intervals of silence progressively lengthened; the delays became exasperating. With their lower frequency, the sounds increased in strength and shrillness. They hurt his ear like the blow of a knife; he was afraid of shouting. What he heard was the ticking of his watch. ”Ambrose Bierce uses time to manipulate the reader into believing things about Peyton Farquhar that may or may not be true. His first description of the.