An Occurrence at Owl Creek

An Occurrenc at Owl Creek
by Ambrose Bierce

"... and had a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in hemp." (Bierce 134)

From the moment that I read the sentence above I had conflicting thoughts on how I was meant to feel for Peyton Farquhar. Up until then I had reason to believe that he was not a good person simply because he was about to be hanged. When Bierce mentions that he had a "kindly expression" I automatically began to feel sympathy for Peyton and wonder that if he was a kind man, what could he have done wrong?
I think that it is very impressive that Bierce can make me feel compassion for someone who, had I heard what he had done in everyday life, I would never feel this compassion for.