An Event at Owl Creek BridgePeople 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 a thing alive if it is capable of performing certain activities, such as growth or reproduction. Biologists, however, have difficulty defining life. They have difficulty locating the boundary between living and non-living things. All scientists agree, however, that one of the characteristics of all living beings is the will to live that they all possess. Without this will, living organisms could not thrive as they most 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 said to himself: “If I could free my hands, I could throw off my noose and throw myself into the stream... By diving, I could escape the bullets and swim vigorously, reaching the bank. This is surely the speech of a man who has the will 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, "...from a well-respected Alabama family", during the Civil War era. . “His features were handsome, a straight nose, a firm mouth and a broad forehead from which his long black 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 his beloved state to fight for the "Southern cause." It was for this reason that he wanted to do everything he could to fulfill his part. When he heard about the opportunity to destroy a bridge that the Federal army needed, he jumped at the chance. He wasn't sorry for what he tried to do when he got caught. He assumed that "...a civilian studying hanging [could] escape the picket line and perhaps get the better of the sentry." He was disappointed, however, 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 focus his last thoughts on his wife and children." Being a plantation owner affected Farquhar's politics. He had to look after his land for the sake of his family name and his children..