Are interpretations of a book that differ from the author's intended meaning valid?

Question

The way I see it, when an author writes a story they have a reason for writing every sentence (at least in a good story). The author is writing to communicate a the meaning of the story to the audience.
So if people in the audience see something that the author did not intend, then they saw something that wasn't there. They would be leading themselves astray from the true story with their imagination.
I would like to get some other opinions on this though

Answer 1

If the author left it too loose for interpretation, then they have no one to blame but themselves if the story is interpreted differently than they envision.

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Answer 2

My favorite works of fiction are those that make me question and wonder and think, and a reaction like that is just what any author wants. As an author I want my works to make people think for themselves, not teach them some sort of moral lesson. Nobody likes fiction that is too preachy or obvious in what the author wants you to get from it.

I think its completely legitimate to get something from fiction (or any other type of writing) which the author didn't intend. Consider a scenario in which a friend is telling you about how they honked at and flipped off someone who cut them off on their way home from work. Your friend's intention is to make you think the other driver was a jerk. Perhaps instead you conclude that your friend has a road rage problem. That's fine - you got something different from the story than your friend intended. Authors are people too, and don't have to be right about everything. Besides, as other people have mentioned, whether an author is espousing a certain view or criticizing it is often very hard to tell.

Answer 3

This is a point of controversy in every college literature class and not a few high school classes and author's clubs.
The greatest problem is determining the author's intention. While it may seem obvious when Charles Dickens writes about an orphan and his horrible life, but what if his intention was to write a ripping good story in order to make money?
When Sylvia Plath writes about death and suicide, is her intention to get what is inside her out on paper, to promote suicide, or to craft a wicked poem. And without saying she was, if the author is mentally ill, does their expression of intention remain valid?
On a more prosaic level, consider the original Star Trek. If you read about its creation, you will find that the author/producer pitched it to the network as "Wagon Train to the Stars" but planned from the beginning to put in lessons about racial mixing, race relations, free speech, etc., and did so. Various authors wrote the episodes with various attitudes, including "I need to make money, what do you want to buy?"
And as psychiatrists know, it is often true that a person does not see the details of motivation which other people might see because of wider experience. Just because an author says there was a limited intention doesn't mean that deeper motivations come through.

Answer 4

Who is going to stop a reader from interpreting it in their own way. How can anyone ever know if they're exactly "on the same page" with another person? Every person brings something just a little bit different to a book. They all have different backgrounds, different emotional states and are at different places in their lives.

I would venture to say that not only would it be impossible for two people to see every passage from the same perspective, it would be impossible for the same person to see it in exactly the same light at two different times in their life. When you reread a book you originally read years ago, you don't always get the exact same thing out of it that you got the first time.

In my mind, that's what makes fiction so great. You aren't just handed something by an author, you have to interpret it, make sense of it in your own way. A book is never exactly the same twice. And, as an aspiring author, I have to say, every time I go over my work in progress, I see something new too. Even authors see different meanings in their own works at different times. (At times, it's even a matter of "Did I really write THAT? Wow.")

Answer 5

Communication of the story's meaning can only occur when someone reads the story. The author (generally!) writes it in a way which he THINKS will enable the reader to perceive the meaning he intended. But there is always a mismatch - and in the end meaning emerges from what the reader makes of it, in a sort of negotiation between the writer and the reader.

Answer 6

Why not - the author may create a novel with a certain theme in mind, to convey their views via the story or via the hero/heroine's journey to the reader but the author is working from his/her experiences and beliefs in creating the book. You may have had different life experiences and have different beliefs so you might see a meaning in the book that works for you. If you read Charles Dickens, you are reading novels written for 19th century English readers but you can see meaning in his work that applies today. How about a Christmas Carol? Is it about Victorian workplace conditions or the value of loving your fellow man?

Answer 7

My dear Joe - do you know why the Mona Lisa smiles? For hundreds of years people have been analyzing that question. She smiles because she just found out she is pregnant, she smiles because she just found out she ISNT pregnant ... on and on. Do you know the real reason the Mona Lisa smiles? She smiles for whatever reason YOU think she smiles when you are looking at her. Plain answer.

Writing is an art form. Like painting, drawing, sculpture, poetry, theatre et al, it is subject to interpretation, and there is no reason why some guy with the letters PhD attached to his name should have an opinion that is any valid more than yours.

When we write, we do so in a way that we hope our books will be the subject of discussion and interest. One of the most important ways we do that is by writing certain things that are subjective and up for interpretation. Why does the girl walk down that street when she feels danger? Why did the Zodiac send letters to the police? All subject to theories and ideas.

It is not my intention as an author to stuff my thoughts down your throat and tell you THAT"S HOW IT IS DEAL WITH IT! I want you to question the decisions I make for my characters. I want you to second guess me. That's why people read books and most importantly, that's why people keep coming back to read more of an author's books.

Go ahead, interpret away. Write letters to authors and ask questions. I do it all the time - and with the exception of Messers. King and Patterson I have gotten return letters and/or phone calls from all of them. Authors love to hear theories on their works.

Great question. It sure is nice to discuss literature here once in a while instead of being a homework slave for kids too lazy to read. Thank you. Pax - C

Answer 8

Great question.
I think about this all of the time when asked by professors to critique a piece or muddle through the steps of literary analysis.
Whether it be English, Philosophy or History... how do we really know what was going on in the author's mind? Regardless of how much time has passed, whether it was written last month or 3000 years ago... we can never know what was in their head.
I do agree that author's communicate deliberately through each sentence...and who are we to tear their world apart?
I guess we need to accept that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Answer 9

Stories are meant to be interpreted. The Author fires off a view and might hit close to his intented idea-target. Different peoples minds catch it differently; and it is not a given that the author can shoot that straight: thats just how it is. If you want to read further into it, there is heaps of stuff about identity, drama and interpretation.

Happy hunting.

Answer 10

Well, that's fine and dandy to think that. But you're wrong. Language is slippery, my friend. And it really doesn't matter what the author thought when he wrote what he wrote.... cause once it's written, it's out of his hands and into my mind!