An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Question

by Ambrose Bierce

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the ties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners—two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff. At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was a captain. A sentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as “support,” that is to say, vertical in front of the left shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight across the chest—a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body. It did not appear to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it.

Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther along. The other bank of the stream was open ground—a gentle slope topped with a stockade of vertical tree trunks, loop holed for rifles, with a single embrasure through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon commanding the bridge.

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Analyze the passage. What theme does this reveal?

(1 point)
Responses

It is important to respect authority.
It is important to respect authority.

Fear can be overcome.
Fear can be overcome.

War has horrible results.
War has horrible results.

Nature provides much beauty.

Answer 1

The theme that the passage reveals is: War has horrible results.

The context of a man standing on the brink of execution during the Civil War illustrates the tragic consequences of conflict, highlighting the brutality and loss of life that war entails. The depiction of the execution scene conveys a sense of hopelessness and despair, reinforcing the idea that war brings about suffering and violence.