“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (Ambrose Bierce)

“The Yellow Wallpaper” (Charlotte Perkins Gilman)

Similarities

  • Both characters fight against the return to normalcy.
  • Both characters are convinced by and live in their hallucinations.
  • Both stories are uncanny and most events in the stories are caused by both of the character’s hallucinations.
  • Both don’t follow the Spirit of Perverseness because in their minds they are not doing anything wrong.
  • Both stories make us feel sympathy for the characters as they try to escape the real world with their delusions. 

Differences 

  • Only in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” does the main character (Peyton) experiences a return to normalcy at the end when his dream is abruptly ended with a rope around his neck.
  • “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is in the Third Person while “The Yellow Wallpaper” is in the First Person.
  •  “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” has an internal focalization/narration and it causes the readers to think that these events are actually happening but it’s not like his escape from the bridge.
  • “The Yellow Wallpaper” has an external focalization where the things outside of the main character’s control are affecting her and this tells the readers the main character starts to believe more in her delusions of breaking free out of the wall as more people try to trap her in the room.