ENL 3 + Owl Creek Bridge

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierces alternates between different points of view to give the reader details from the main point of views. The story begins with the 3rd person point of view depicting the overall setting and putting all of the characters in there designated places. By portraying this point of view the reader is given a background for what is to come in the story. This way the reader can use this setting as a building block for the rest of the story which allows the reader to become more enticed in the story. However this mode of presentation is very limited in the sense of how vague it is to the individual characters in this short story.
Towards the end of part one the view transits to Peyton Farquhar the man who is about to be hanged. This slowly builds a relationship to Farquhar by giving sympathy to man who is soon to be executed. The view stays remotely the same in part II and gives background to Farquhar in an attempt to reveal how he has plotted to burn down the bridge so his execution is justified. At the same time the glimpse of the past leaves the reader wondering how he was caught. The background that this builds is with the main character rather than a literal background, again relating more to the main character but still enough to leave the reader with questions. By leaving a bit of mystery the reader is allowed to offer there own opinion and changes what each reader obtains from the story.
The biggest shift is in part III where the reader almost becomes Farquhar following his every move and thought. This transition drastically improves the relationship between the reader and Farquhar by giving the reader empathy towards Farquhar. The reader wants to cheer on Farquhar's escape so he can go home to his family. Scared for him while he is being shot at and hoping he does not get shot. The reader then gets attached to Farquhar so when the dream comes to an end the reader finds out he was hanged they are actually upset. By giving the reader a false hope assuming he got away and then stripping them of that hope to find out he actually died. After getting the reader emotionally attached and then using those emotions to intensify the devastating the effect of his death upon the reader.