What just happened?Literature is black text on white paper, but it is not simply black and white, but rather intricately colored. It serves as a means of escape and adventure. Readers are privileged to have omniscience into the lives of characters who are the antithesis of themselves, as well as characters with whom the reader feels a deep connection. Because it is not black and white, there is no single correct interpretation of any given work. A piece of literature lives a different life in the mind of each reader. This open-ended individual interpretation is the critical method known as reader response. Reactions to the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce, are varied. Bierce takes on the role of God in creating the character and controlling the end result. The authors create an alternative universe. They control what happens in this universe and how it will affect its inhabitants. They can manipulate it as they wish. They can also destroy, like Bierce did with Peyton Farquhar. No matter how much the reader wanted Peyton to escape, it is Beirce's final decision on death that we must consider. The surprise ending delights some, while upsetting others. In this sense, the author has some control over the reader's reaction and his consciousness. Reading is like the experience of life itself, in that there are many twists and turns in our lives, just like those in history, over which we have no control, and often the outcomes are ultimately overwhelming. It is a deeply psychological work, revealing the mental struggles of the main character, Peyton Farquhar, and also impacting the reader's psychology. The reader is immersed in Peyton's escape, experiencing every obstacle and trial with him, wishing him safe. Bierce uses a very dreamlike structure to reveal Farquhar's psychologically repressed ambitions: "Obviously, he came from a structured background, born into an orderly world where formalities mattered a lot among the nobility... In truth, Farquhar found himself inhibited by social and historical restrictions, and so "yearned for the release of his energies" (Powers p.279). This inner struggle is a very Freudian concept. According to Freud, there is a constant tension between man and his environment..