Examples Of Ambiguity In Literature

Today, ambiguity can be seen in many pieces of well-known literature, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Ambiguous statements and phrases are meant to leave imagination to the reader. To use ambiguity in literature is not meant to confuse, but rather it is for the reader to visualize what he or she believes it to be. To use clarity in literature, on the other hand, does not necessarily leave a less important message but a less deep meaning than those of ambiguous statements. Ambiguity enables the reader to interpret a variety of phrases into what they believe and want it to be. It gives the audience freedom, which is desired in literature to escape reality. To give clarity to a reader limits an individual’s imagination, therefore disabling freedom and ultimately making the literature undesirable to read. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis leaves every reader with various ambiguous meanings. However, Kafka meant to do this under the premise that it would assist the reader to think of his or her own life with a deeper meaning. The deplorable tale of Gregor Samsa lets us take a closer look into our lives to think more deeply …show more content…
Ambiguity is used for the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, even if a meaning was meant to be implied by the author. In Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, for instance, readers are left with ambiguity after the conversation between Hedda and Judge Brack in their second confrontation with one another. The reader knows that there has to be something more between the two characters due to the vagueness and obscurity of their conversation. Inevitably, he or she assumes that their relationship must be deeper due to possible implications we might draw from the character’s discussion. Ambiguity allows for freedom of the mind and lets the imagination go where it pleases without limitations or