In the story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek, the mental and physical anquish are throughout the novel, but none more tense and shocking than at the end when the reader learns that the man has been hanged (thus the physical). The mental anguish that occurs during this point in the novel is the fact that he has all along been trying to reach his wife, to follow her, as well as other members of his community and family, and now, the reader realizes, as does the man, that he is dying.
