Question

In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" a short story by Ambrose Bierce:

At what point in the story does the reader suspect Farquhar is only dreaming his escape? In other words, how/where does Bierce foreshadow that things are not quite as they seem?

Answer 1

In section three when Farquhar is walking home but is unable to recognize his surroundings.

Step-by-step explanation:

"All that day he traveled, laying his course by the rounding sun. The forest seemed interminable; nowhere did he discover a break in it, not even a woodman's road. He had not known that he lived in so wild a region. There was something uncanny in the revelation.

By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famished. The thought of his wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him in what he knew to be the right direction. It was as wide and straight as a city street, yet it seemed untraveled. No fields bordered it, no dwelling anywhere. Not so much as the barking of a dog suggested human habitation. The black bodies of the trees formed a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective. Overhead, as he looked up through this rift in the wood, shone great golden stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations. He was sure they were arranged in some order which had a secret and malign significance. The wood on either side was full of singular noises, among which--once, twice, and again--he distinctly heard whispers in an unknown tongue.

His neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it found it horribly swollen. He knew that it had a circle of black where the rope had bruised it. His eyes felt congested; he could no longer close them. His tongue was swollen with thirst; he relieved its fever by thrusting it forward from between his teeth into the cold air. How softly the turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue--he could no longer feel the roadway beneath his feet!

Doubtless, despite his suffering, he had fallen asleep while walking, for now he sees another scene--perhaps he has merely recovered from a delirium He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine. He must have traveled the entire night." In this excerpt you can see where Bierce is beginning to cast a shadow of doubt as to whether this is actually happening or is just a death induced stupor dream. Hope this helped!

Answer 2

The reader suspects it when Farquhar finds an unrealistic road to his home and feels the neck pain and the tongue swelling.

Step-by-step explanation:

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by American author Ambrose Bierce. The main character, Peyton Farquhar, is tricked into trying to burn a bridge that would allow Union soldiers to cross. Farquhar is a Confederacy supporter. He ends up hanged.

The problem is that the reader is also tricked by the writer. We are led to believe Farquhar has escaped, that the noose broke, and he found himself swimming in the creek, dodging bullets, free to return home. As his journey home is described, however, the author uses some foreshadowing to show things are not quite as they seem - a little late, though, since the story is about to end.

The narrator describes a road Farquhar takes home. It has not been traveled by before. There are dark trees lined on each side of it, and Farquhar can hear whispers in a strange language. At this point, the reader can already notice something is wrong. It's as if Farquhar is dying, leaving this world and walking toward another realm. Then, Farquhar feels a terrible pain in his neck as well as a swelling in his tongue. Those are felt by people who are hanged. As the noose constraints their necks, their tongues swell. Farquhar doesn't know it yet, but the reader now has no doubt. He is dying, and his journey was nothing but a brief hallucination between the moment he was thrown off the bridge and the moment the noose broke his neck.