An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce's short story, "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge," deals with transitions in chronology and in point of view. The story opens with present day and it is written in third person objective. The narrator is basically describing the scene. He is telling us what is happening and does not give us any insight on how the characters are feeling. This type of opening gets us readers into the story because only the scene is being described so you are not exactly sure what is taking place. You want to keep reading so you fully understand what is happening. Especially in this story. It starts off with a man standing there getting ready to be executed. That is quite an opening to attract readers.
As the first part of the story is going on, it moves into third person limited so you can see what the main character is feeling. You see how he only wishes to escape so he can go back to his wife and children. This allows you to feel sympathy towards the character. As the story progresses into part two, the chronology changes, it goes into the past. It allows you to see who the main character is and gives you an insight on how he got into his present predicament. This part answers the questions that you are faced with when reading the first part.
The last part is still in third person limited and it transitions into present day. However, even though it is in present day, what you are reading is actually what he imagines and wishes is happening to him. This gives the reader a false hope. You think he is escaping and is now with his family but right at the end of the story you see that he was merely day-dreaming and actually dies. This chronology order from going to present to past to present allows the reader to see the situation with no previous insight, then it allows you to see what occurred beforehand so you can make an decision about how you feel about the main character and the outcome.