Question

Describe the transcendental experience of Farquhar willing the noose to give way and envisioning his escape into the arms of his wife and safety, then the "white light" rather than the reality of his corpse's broken bones of death.

Answer 1

Answer and explanation:

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce that is set during the Civil War in the United States. Peyton Farquhar is being hanged for trying to prevent enemy soldiers from crossing a bridge by trying to burn the bridge down.

Upon being pushed from the bridge to be hanged, Farquhar has a transcendental experience. Even though his neck breaks and he dies an almost instant death, Farquhar has a dream - or hallucination- in which the noose breaks. He escapes and swims back to his home, his family. However, even in this dream there is some reality to be found. For instance, Farquhar certainly felt a momentary excruciating pain in real life that permeated his dream:

His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, his heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to force itself out at his mouth.

In real life, Farquhar probably had an instinctive reaction of trying to reach for the noose, to loosen it. But he couldn't do it, since his hands were tied. That sensation also invaded his dream:

His whole body was racked and wrenched with an insupportable anguish! But his disobedient hands gave no heed to the command.

Still, in the dream, this situation is transformed. He frees his hands and swims back home. When he is about to hug his wife, he feels "a stunning blow upon the back of the neck". That's when his neck breaks. Both, the dream and his life, are now over.