An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge

Authors Note: In order to continue our knowledge on defense mechanism we read the short story An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge. Then we had to right a response to it.
What Truly Matters in Life?
One always wonders why a person does what he does. For example in the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” in which the author, Ambrose Bierce, writes a story about a man representative of humanity. This man from a reader’s point of view was escaping death, but actually is experiencing a flashback in the final moments of life. Bierce creates an illusion in the writing to convey the message to the world that it is no matter what you’re doing in life; you should always care about what really is necessary in life, because later on you may not be living to cherish those precious moments.
Using illusions in writing allows the reader to think one thought but it’s truly a whole other ball game. Peyton Farquhar, a plantation owner in North Alabama, is about to be hang for his “misdeeds”. Even though, through the eyes of the readers it seems that he has developed a plan to escape and is near the final stages of his escape, he truly is about to die and get hanged. The author illustrates, “By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famishing. The thought of his wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him in what he knows was the right direction”. After walking what he thinks is the right path for a while, he is in front of his house looking at his wife . He about to ran up and hug his wife, but everything goes down the drain. The author narrates, “As he is about to clasp her, he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him, with a sound like the shock of a cannon-then all is darkness and silence. Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek Bridge” (198). The whole story the reader actually thinks Peyton has escaped from the soldiers and is running for his life when he finally reaches home. No; instead, he is just having a bunch of flashback which to the readers seems as events occurring in the present. Afterwards, it reminds the readers that even though you may be dying you should always remember about your loved ones; because, you will not be there always to enjoy those precious moment with them. In Peyton’s case, he thinks about a flashback, about what truly matter to him, his family. In the end, in the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” , Ambrose Bierce, the author, utilizes illusions throughout the story to persuade the readers that no matter what not matter what a person maybe doing, one should make sure that they are always is there to cherish those precious moments, because they only happen once in a lifetime.