Question

Why does Bierce use a flashback in section 2 of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" instead of proceeding with the events taking place?

1) to introduce Peyton Farquhar
2) to emphasize the folly of romanticism
3) to depict the cunningness of the Federal soldiers
4) to emphasize the naivety of the Confederacy
5) to help the reader know what led to the events in section 1

Answer 1

Flashbacks are used by authors in order to give insight to what just happened in the story, and to provide the readers with a introduction to the characters from their real life, not the action that they lived (or died) through at the beginning of the story.

The answers would be 1 and 5.
If you must choose only one (1) answer, then I would say it is 1.

Answer 2

Answer: the correct answer is 5) to help the reader know what led to the events in section 1.

Explanation: Flashbacks are often used to tell the readers events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in crucial backstory.