In Part I of Ambrose Bierce’s story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” he starts off with a third person omniscient. This allows the reader to see the opening of this story as a movie, where they are distant from the characters and have no feelings towards what is happening. The only knowledge the reader gets is that a man is being hang; therefore, making the reader feel no sign of remorse or sorrow towards the man, instead it makes the reader ponder what crime the man committed in order to be punished that way.
Following Part I is Part II of the story where Bierce switches to the past, giving background knowledge of the man who got hanged. Bierce focus on Peyton alone, giving the reader a third person limited, making us see and feel what the character feels. This enables us to grasp a deeper understanding of Peyton’s character that he is a Southern and a solider at heart, willing to aid his Southern comrades. We also learn that the reason Peyton got hanged was because he went to the Owl Creek Bridge.
Lastly in Part III, Bierce switches to back to third person omniscient so that the readers can get a clear view as to what is happening within the story. It brings the reader back to the present, letting them know what is happening right now: Peyton is being hanged and then he somehow manages to escape reaching home to his loving wife. Unfortunately, we find out that it was all his imagination. Peyton never escaped his fate of being hanged, and it makes the reader feel sympathetic towards Peyton, changing the way they feel towards him in the beginning of the story.
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