“An Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge”

Ambrose Bierce

“He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children. The water, touched to gold by the early sun, the brooding mists under the banks at some distance down the stream, the fort, the soldiers, the piece of drift—all had distracted him. And now he became conscious of a new disturbance. Striking through the thought of his dear ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurably distant or near by— it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell. He awaited each new stroke with impatience and—he knew not why—apprehension. The intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of his watch” (1-2).

This is my favorite passage in the story because the author is able to describe a ticking watch in such great detail that the reader can derive two meanings from the description.

In the first meaning, the author provides an ironic turn of events because the ticking of his watch is what sets him free. Farquhar, in these last moments before his death, is trying to envision his wife and children. He desperately thinks of them to provide a sense of comfort and relief right before he dies. However, the author describes the beauty in the nature as a distraction to his thoughts about his family. The steadfast ticking of the watch provides him with the determination to set his mind free and escape. Listening to the metallic percussion allows his mind to wander back home where he can, in a sense, die in his wife’s arms. The watch is an interesting symbol to incorporate into this tragic scene because the ticking of a watch indicates time running out. Those who listen to the seconds pass by hear a sense of monotony as time is fleeting from them. People often associate everything with time; which, consequently bounds them to the minute hands of their watches. Everything takes a certain, determinable amount of time. It creates a mood of apprehension and in some cases, anxiety. For this reason, this passage is ironic. The ticking of the watch allows Farquhar to be set free, not held down.

In the second meaning, Farquhar is bounded down by the regular ticks of the second hand. The author indicates that the monotony of the beats actually drives Farquhar mad in his final moments before death. He apprehends each second by with a large fear because he knows what is going to happen, yet not when. This fear of not knowing is so immense that he goes mad. Time was created to provide a sense of urgency and order to the world. Without it, the world would be in chaos. People rely on the time to run their lives. Unfortunately for Farquhar, he is unable to discern the amount of time that he has left. The ticking of the second hand serves as a constant reminder of his mortality.

My interpretation of this story is that time is a paradox. It can either save us or destroy us. We, as people, need to understand that time can bring meaning to our lives, but it can also destroy meaning. Therefore, our lives are up to us. They are what we choose to make it. Time is simply an abstract concept created for order. What we do with it will decide our fate.