(27 votes, average: 4.44 out of 5)
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Even I experienced it many times.
(27 votes, average: 4.44 out of 5) Loading ...
Even I experienced it many times.
Urgh, I’m 16 and I see this all the time. It annoys me how people can believe that writers would go into this much depth when writing a book. If he though through every word, an author would write 1 book in his lifetime.
I do hope you get to experience the beauty that is sometimes cleverly ‘hidden’ in a good writer’s writings, sometime when you grow older.
do you really know for sure? have you actually sat down with the author of a book with which you have discovered a large amount of “hidden meaning” to see if it was placed there intentionally? I can understand some small things being placed to add depth to a story, but the point is that in english classrooms it is often taken way way beyond what is conceivable as something the author intended to convey, and then when someone reads something else into it, their viewpoint is often considered incorrect even though the whole discussion is well into the realm of subjective.
I just finished reading Franz Kafka’s The Castle, and what seems to be a story about a guy trying to get into a castle turns into an enormous allegory for a man searching for salvation. Literally every single little detail points to this one large meaning, even Kafka suggested that this was the meaning in many ways before his untimely death. My point is you’d be amazed how much intricacy goes into literature; look at Hemingway for example, almost every single one of his works is a HUGE allegory, authors don’t just shit on a piece of paper and hope the story is interesting a GOOD work of literature alludes to the authors true feelings and beliefs. If this wasn’t true we wouldn’t have works like Brave New World, 1984, The Trial, The Bluest Eye, Pride & Prejudice, A Farewell to Arms, or Crime & Punishment. All of the books mentioned being enormous allegories. The only author that I know of that generally disagreed with the interpretation of his works was Edgar Allen Poe and that’s because he was against allegories. So perhaps you’ll read a book and look past the story to see what the author WANTED you to see.
-English Major
you make a terrible point. all of your examples are very obvious. sure authors use certain words at certain times to describe certain things, but not every little thing in every book is meant to be read into. most teachers over analyze every word the author wrote, thinking he or she mean something completely irrelevant
In a short story or poem that lasted decades and is still studied, then yes, almost every word will have some meaning. That is what makes them last decades and not piddle into the big mass of “average” literature that is cranked out every second.
I suggest you listen to English majors. They tend to know what they spend years studying.
yeah like the browning sonnet, how do i love thee, let me count the ways… it was all that hidden meaning that made it last all these centuries i guess.
Yeah, it is all about the hidden meaning of the word “how”…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_author
And this is why no matter WTF Rowling says, Dumbledore is not gay.
he is &%^$. i would know
This was said by the New York Times bestselling/Printz award winning author John Green, “What’s important is that critical reading can be a way into thinking quite deeply about questions that are difficult and complicated, and not in some like boring and abstract way, like, ‘Oh, in Moby Dick, white is a symbol for nature’s ambivalence to man,’ but instead in a concrete and totally interesting way, like, ‘nature’s complete indifference to you, as expressed by the color white in Moby Dick, is something that you had better get your head around or else you’re going to end up like Captain Ahab.’ So it’s not so much about uncovering secret mysteries for the sake of uncovering secret mysteries, it’s about using story as a way into thinking about our actual lives and how we’re actually living them.” So stop being whiny and listen to your English teachers!
This was said by the New York Times bestselling/Printz award winning author John Green, “What’s important is that critical reading can be a way into thinking quite deeply about questions that are difficult and complicated, and not in some like boring and abstract way, like, ‘Oh, in Moby Dick, white is a symbol for nature’s ambivalence to man,’ but instead in a concrete and totally interesting way, like, ‘nature’s complete indifference to you, as expressed by the color white in Moby Dick, is something that you had better get your head around or else you’re going to end up like Captain Ahab.’ So it’s not so much about uncovering secret mysteries for the sake of uncovering secret mysteries, it’s about using story as a way into thinking about our actual lives and how we’re actually living them.” So stop being whiny and listen to your English teachers!
Why are the circles even touching?
Because of James Joyce
The circles are touching because the graph itself evidences a poor understanding of mathematics, while the “point” of the graph evidences an even poorer understanding of literary analysis.
^^^^^^ Pretentious.
-Everyone who’s not an English Major.
Writers actually write the words that are in their novels, y’know. Using the same example, the writer CHOSE to write ‘blue curtains’, as opposed to just ‘curtains’. However minor, there is definitely a reason behind that choice of word. They’re not writing with tourettes.
you’re right, they’re not writing with tourettes. they’re writing with description. can you imagine how boring a book would be if they didn’t put that in? “sally looked at the curtains then walked into the kitchen and sat down” it’s much more interesting and paints a better picture if they say the blue curtains and walked into the dimly lit, dingy kitchen. blue doesn’t have to mean anything, the writer could just like the color and needed a color to describe said curtains.
Authors tend to disagree with you. Yes, description matters but others things matter more. This was said by NY Times bestselling/award winning author, John Green, “What’s important is that critical reading can be a way into thinking quite deeply about questions that are difficult and complicated, and not in some like boring and abstract way, like, ‘Oh, in Moby Dick, white is a symbol for nature’s ambivalence to man,’ but instead in a concrete and totally interesting way, like, ‘nature’s complete indifference to you, as expressed by the color white in Moby Dick, is something that you had better get your head around or else you’re going to end up like Captain Ahab.’ So it’s not so much about uncovering secret mysteries for the sake of uncovering secret mysteries, it’s about using story as a way into thinking about our actual lives and how we’re actually living them.” So stop being whiny and listen to your English teachers!
Repeat the same quote over and over.
“I’m engaging in the discussion”
I believe that writers have reasons for doing a lot of the little things they do. however, I also believe that you can’t know what they are. Maybe the curtains were blue only because that was their color, but the carpet was red to symbolize the obsessive rage the character feels towards his neglectful father. You can’t know though. Even the author may not know.
The problem with that is two fold.
1st how in the hell does a red carpet symbolize rage? I realize red is often the color of anger, but how does Carpet relate to the character? The same applies with the curtains, blue is the color of sadness but curtains are not symbolic of emotional state and any writer who thinks otherwise ought to have their pen broken in half and shoved up his/her ass.
It is far more likely colors and nouns are used to draw the reader into the world of the character. Saying someone is in a room does not paint a mental picture while describing the color, texture and objects in a room helps put the reader in the characters shoes.
Which brings me to problem number 2, if things like red carpets and blue curtains are in fact terrible hints at a deeper meaning than what color was the carpet/curtains. Are these supposedly great authors neglecting to describe the world their characters inhabit in order to instead hint at some deeper meaning?
Seems like perhaps they should have instead written a book about the subject they really truly care about instead of beating around the bush with retarded metaphors like curtains and carpets which make absolutely no sense without some major rationale.
“What’s important is that critical reading can be a way into thinking quite deeply about questions that are difficult and complicated, and not in some like boring and abstract way, like, ‘Oh, in Moby Dick, white is a symbol for nature’s ambivalence to man,’ but instead in a concrete and totally interesting way, like, ‘nature’s complete indifference to you, as expressed by the color white in Moby Dick, is something that you had better get your head around or else you’re going to end up like Captain Ahab.’ So it’s not so much about uncovering secret mysteries for the sake of uncovering secret mysteries, it’s about using story as a way into thinking about our actual lives and how we’re actually living them.” So stop being whiny and listen to your English teachers!
My problem with that is that the carpet and curtain clash horrible unless the wall is white.
I agree that at times people (and particularly teachers) tend to over-analyse certain books, but most of the time the analysis is necessary. There are so many hidden meanings in novels – and particularly poems – that we would be doing a lot of the works a great disservice by not digging a little deeper for their true meanings or that extra layer or two to the story.
I’m a firm believer that at least half of the double-meanings we find in works of fiction are unintentional. I think that good writers just do this naturally with their works without realising most of the time.
As a writer you try to get the point across in as simple a way as you possibly can so you don’t end up alienating your fan-base and potential readers. Through all this simplification though once you try to analyse the works, you can go off into all sorts of paths as to what the author may have meant depending on who is doing the analysis.
But ultimately we won’t truly know until we ask the author. It’s always fun to analyse though, just don’t overdo it I would say.
@Jordan Brook: Colours almost always have deeper meanings and are symbolic in novels; they’re usually more subtle than the examples you’re talking about but the fact remains. You may not agree with certain people’s interpretations of them but colours are usually there for a reason – connotation. Pretty much everything is there for a good reason, just like in film.
I agree in the double-meanings often being unintentional. I know I wrote a storyline for a game I made that was just a sorta throw-away to explain the set-up of the game, but several people read into it and discovered that it was actually a criticism of the education system.
Also, lulz at anyone who knows what I’m talking about.
My English teacher said something interesting. He said that when people write, their subconscious comes through in their writing. Little details that they don’t even notice themselves can have significance that the author doesn’t even realize. I think it’s an interesting idea.
Funny this. It ties nicely with the book I read recently where the author notes how we find try to interpret noise as signal. For example assuming there is a link between changes in the stock markets and the world around us (when its just a fluctuation) and how we “find meaning” in literature when the author didnt intend for it to be there…..Note, the author actually meant this, this is not an interpretation haha.
Funny…but everyone’s argumentive comments are funnier.. its one joke. get over it. geeze
It is quite funny how something as stupid and simple as someone drawing a couple circles with some text with an oversimplified joke can really bring out the mad in people.
Speaking here as both a novelist and and English professor, I can assure anyone who’s interested that writers certainly do make intricate, conscious choices when they’re establishing character and describing scenes. Every detail (or almost) is selected with care, if not with symbolic purpose. Often, however, a writer may choose details without recognizing what those details may signify to some readers, or without any particular (conscious) secondary meaning at all.
The English teacher, in asserting her interpretation as to the blue curtains’ significance, is doing just (and only) that; she is interpreting the text for her students. She will have her reasons, of course, and she can probably explain them well. Nonetheless, an insightful student may have his own valid interpretation of what the curtains’ color may mean–and if he can support his interpretation, perhaps with references to other parts of the text, his idea of what the author may have intended can be just as valid as the teacher’s. Effective symbolism in literature usually grows out of the text; that is, it is a *consequence* of the creative act of writing, not a deliberate function of it.
Brush your teeth nerds
Is “nerd” supposed to be an insult?
‘”What’s important is that critical reading can be a way into thinking quite deeply about questions that are difficult and complicated, and not in some like boring and abstract way, like, ‘Oh, in Moby Dick, white is a symbol for nature’s ambivalence to man,’ but instead in a concrete and totally interesting way, like, ‘nature’s complete indifference to you, as expressed by the color white in Moby Dick, is something that you had better get your head around or else you’re going to end up like Captain Ahab.’ So it’s not so much about uncovering secret mysteries for the sake of uncovering secret mysteries, it’s about using story as a way into thinking about our actual lives and how we’re actually living them.” So stop being whiny and listen to your English teachers!’
You sure you didn’t mean to say that? Also, it’s obviously meant as an insult in this context. Which, by the way, is a great way of explaining why the pic is simultaneously wrong and right. Change the context.
Wow, some severely obnoxious people in this comments who entirely missed the point of the joke. Yeah, there is a lot of hidden meaning in literature. There is also a whole lot of plain old description that isn’t mean to signify anything at all, but people need a justification for easy college degrees so they spend years trying to decide why the color of the living room was a certain way.
I have yet to meet the English major who can tell me for certain when there is hidden meaning and when there is just plain description given meaning by a self-indulgent pseudo-intellectual who needs something to do.
And lest I be called a neanderthal, yup, I’ve read all the big ones on my own time, often repeatedly. Huxley, Orwell, Shakespeare. There is a lot of hidden meaning. Instead of insisting that this IS the meaning of the literature, though, I take it for what it is – a connection I personally make with the work, my own interpretation. What this joke makes fun of (and what you mouth-breathers who think you are God’s gift to intellectaulism miss completely) is people that insist that their personal interpretation of a work and the significance that that interpretation has to them is what the author intended.
Quite simply, how the hell do you know?
I’m going to jump on the crippling irony before anyone else does – that my post, which mentions intellectualism, literature, and people with easy college degrees contains something like six typing and spelling errors. That’s what I get for schooling humorless dweebs on a mobile device.
someone had a bad day in English class…
Idiots, I love how teenagers think they know everything about everything. Just because you don’t care/ aren’t smart enough/ or I don’t know didn’t actually read the book your teacher is talking about does not mean their analysis is wrong. The truth is there are very often descriptive words that are their for ambiance and not story, however you can bet your bottom dollar when an author mentions color it means something to the story.
(So for you teenagers that don’t want to do poorly in your freshmen English classes listen carefully.) Three things you need to mention in the bullshit essays you write for the shitty books they make you read , (yeah curve ball I am not an English major just an elitist dickwad,) 1. Color it does mean something the author put it in for a reason. 2. anything relating to hinting at gender roles (especially with chick teachers, This includes Phallic simples eg. in great gatsby gun in mouth instead of shooting self in head.)3.Charecters that you might kind of think relate to a famous person in history, they most certainly do, (Teenager says: wut u mean animal farm is not happy book about talking pigs? lol wut?)so make sure to include that in your paper.
Anyways when you do get to college follow those three rules when Bs’ing your way through papers and enjoy your 4 point.
“I hate how others act like they have everything figured out”
Proceeds to explain how he has it completely figured out.
1. It’s usually students who offer up the cosmic hallucination responses to literature, though yes they probably get this from high school teachers.
2. When you analyse a literary work you analyse it; you don’t try to figure out what the author was thinking: that’s what you do in Psych class.