Ambiguity
is essential to the type of experience that the reader has when they are
reading a book. Having doubt in the meaning of a book impacts a reader’s
understanding by not letting the reader understand what is happening and what
they are actually reading. Readers cannot fully appreciate a text if they do
not understand and are unable to follow the story line of the book. No one wants
to spend their time reading books that do not make sense to them. Most people
would say that it was a waste of time and would rather look up what the plot of
the story was rather than try to read through a book that they do not
understand. Having some doubt in what is happening may be acceptable for some
books, but not understanding all that is happening is not enjoyable. Being able
to engage with a text is important so having no doubts about what the plot of a
story is what is always wanted.
Every book has a point or
a purpose behind it and not understanding that makes the experience unpleasant.
Not being able to comprehend what the story is about could work in a book if
the book was a mystery or wanted suspense. In a mystery book, if a reader does
not grasp what is happening completely it can help create the suspense of the
story. In Agatha Christie’s book And
Then There Were None, the beginning part was very hard to follow. There
were many different characters and trying to keep up with all of
their story lines was confusing. It was an amazing book overall,
but the introduction of all the characters was perplexing. Ambiguity works in
art pieces because it creates mystery about what the piece is about. Many
times, buyers have to find their own meaning inside an art piece and that can
be very inspirational for people.
Aleesha, this is a take on ambiguity in literature and art that I never have seen before. Whenever I have seen any discussion of ambiguity, it is inevitably either that ambiguity is useless and simply frustrates the reader or that ambiguity is an incomprehensible art form that many readers cannot grasp. As you mentioned, ambiguity works best in mysteries. So many mysteries have a clear cut ending that an ambiguous ending adds a twist to the whole story and can leave the reader questioning everything that they had just read. But, as you said, the author has to balance between ambiguity and the plot itself or the reader is left fumbling and confused. I have never seen the importance of the balance mentioned before and am glad that you have brought attention to it.
ReplyDeleteAleesha,
ReplyDeletePrior to reading this post, I had never really believed ambiguity was essential to the reading experience but now that it was mentioned in this post and I read more about it, I would definitely agree. Without this, the reader could not foreshadow what is to come. On a different note, I really like how you used the book And Then There Were None as a reference because I agree that is was very hard to follow in the beginning. There was so much thrown out and many stories and characters to follow. As you mentioned, it is important not to make sure that the story is not too open to the imagination, though, or else further confusion will occur.
Aleesha, I completely agree that there needs to be a balance of ambiguity so as to not confuse the reader and to prevent the book from being too one dimensional and boring. Ambiguity best suits mysteries like you said because it is the best way to maintain the suspense in a novel. It can definitely get to a point where certain books become difficult to read because too much ambiguity makes the book confusing for the reader, and at times it may seem like a cop out, but when used correctly ambiguity can be really beneficial to a story.
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