An event at the Owl Creek Bridge People can easily recognize that a butterfly, a horse or a tree are alive and that a bicycle, a computer and a lamp are not . People call something living if it is capable of carrying out certain activities, such as growth or reproduction. Biologists, however, have difficulty defining life. They have difficulty identifying the dividing line between living and non-living things. However, all scientists agree that a characteristic of all living beings is the will to live that they all possess. Without this will, living organisms could not thrive as they certainly do. Ambrose Bierce's short story “AnOccurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a perfect example of the power of the will to live. It is the story of a man sentenced to death by asphyxiation. He thinks to himself: "If I could free my hands, I could free myself from the noose and throw myself into the stream... By diving I could escape the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the shore." This is certainly the speech of a man who wants to live. Until the last nanoseconds of his execution, he imagines an elaborate escape in which he manages to reach his home and family. Peyton Farquhar is a Southern gentleman, "...of a highly respected Alabama family", in the days of the Civil War. “His features were good, a straight nose, a firm mouth, a broad forehead from which his long dark hair was combed back, falling behind his ears to the collar of his well-fitting frock coat.” Due to circumstances not described in the story, Peyton was unable to join her beloved state to fight for the “Southern cause.” For this reason he wanted to do everything he could to do his part. When he heard of an opportunity to destroy a bridge the Federal Army needed, he jumped at the chance. He wasn't sorry for what he tried to do when he was caught. He supposed that he "...a civilian and student of hanging [could] evade the picket line and perhaps get the better of the sentry." However, he was disappointed that due to his capture he would never see his family again. Peyton Farquhar loved his wife and children. In his last moments on this earth Farquhar "...closed his eyes to fix his last thoughts on his wife and children". Being a plantation owner influenced Farquhar's politics. He needed to take care of his land for the sake of his family name and his children.