Ambiguity, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting
elements of literature, because it is the one most engaging to the reader. In parts of novels or pieces of text that
are ambiguous, the reader is able to morph the author’s story into his or her
own. The reader can then take his or
her own experiences in order to extrapolate the events of the story, thus
creating an undeniably unique reader to author relationship. When executed correctly, ambiguity can be an
incredibly powerful literary device. Ambiguous endings are great, because it
softens the blow of the realization that the reader’s contact with the
characters of the novel is nearing a conclusion. They are the perfect tools to use when
writing a series of books, since a clear ending is not defined. For single books, or books that an author
does not intend on continuing, the ambiguous ending may cause dissatisfaction
with the reader due to the lack of a sense of closure. An accomplished author knows when to utilize
ambiguity and when to plan out clear-cut endings. I have read quite a few novels in which the
ambiguity was not very well done, and greatly detracted from the plot of the novel
as a whole. This is a case in which the
author may not have properly achieved his or her intentions for the story. There is a difference between being thoughtfully
ambiguous and lazily vague. Vagueness
and ambiguity tend to be confused with each other in common usage, but there is
a distinct difference between the two.
I think that ambiguity is a little dangerous when writing, like you said if done inadequately it could be detrimental to the rest of the story. In some cases its very powerful, for example, in the end of "The Great Gatsby" it is first very unclear what has happened but after a reread we are able to comprehend exactly what the author meant despite his ambiguous ending.
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your thoughts on ambiguity. My response to this prompt was very similar. I know for me personally, an open ending to a book that will never have a sequel is just maddening. My mind begins to develop too many endings to one book. I love a good cliffhanger at the end of a novel, but only when the writer plans on continuing. As I was saying, I totally agree that ambiguity is a powerful tool when used by a confident and powerful author. Sometimes the best endings are indefinite because sometimes that is what we as humans crave. We crave the indefinite and fear it at the same time
I agree that ambiguity is one of the most interesting elements of literature. Without a vagueness that is open to interpretation, these novels, poems, and quotes lose their richness. This is what sets language and literature apart from all other academic subjects. Math, science, history, and nearly every other setting contains little to no ambiguity; their answers are concrete, definite, and the same for every person. Conversely, a story is never read the same way by two different people. As Zach Perry said, the best endings are indefinite because that is what we as humans crave. We live our entire lives in the shadows of ambiguity, hoping we might one day step out of the darkness and bring order to complexity. However, what benefit is there for us to solve a question that holds an infinitude of other possible answers? Learning to live peacefully in the uncertainty, coming to terms with the fact that some questions are meant to be pondered, but never solved--that is the sign of true intellectual maturity.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Clare on where she said that ambiguity could be dangerous to use when writing, because this could be how one interprets the rest of the story or even the ending. Yet, I also agree with you that ambiguity is a great aspect to include in a text if the author uses it well. However, open ended stories tend to drive me crazy for the simple reason that I desire to know the ending, along with Zach. Yet, a strong suit of ambiguity is the vagueness that allures the reader to want to continue. Such as, in a sequel of novels, which could lead the reader to imagine the next book and the events by providing the right type of vagueness for a close reading of the novel.
ReplyDelete