Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a unique tale due to the fact that large portions of it occur inside the mind of the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar. The story thus conveys the power of the mind to distort or completely alter reality. Farquhar is hanged and his mind protects itself against the harsh reality that he is about to die. This detachment from reality is a phenomenon Bierce explores in-depth in this short story.
             Bierce is relating the ability of the mind to alter reality to fit within acceptable terms. Farquhar is facing certain death and yet his mind imagines his escape in extraordinary detail. In order to fully establish this idea however, the reader needs to be sympathetic towards Farquhar. Bierce establishes Farquhar through his inclusion of subtle details. First, there are the details of the scene just before Farquhar is hanged. Bierce includes how Farquhar is tied, how the platform is situated, the rank of his executioners and how the guards are positioned. Bierce describes the bridge, the railroad the forest and the stream in fantastic detail (173). The drawn out, stagnant description of this moment in time creates a solemn, somber feeling and establishes its severity. In this way the reader begins to sympathize with Farquhar's perilous predicament. Next, there is the description of Farquhar himself. Bierce includes details about his age, his dress and his appearance. He is described as "a civilian" with "a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in the hemp," (Bierce 173-174). Bierce refers to Farquhar as not being a "vulgar assassin" but a gentleman (174). Thus, even though the reader does not know why Farquhar is being hanged, they are sympathetic and truly wish for him to somehow live through his ordeal. Finally, Bierce uses subtle details to describe why Farquhar is being hang...