Everything Is Open To Interpretation. (Part I)

OBJECTIVITY IS A LIE.

Forget everything you thought you knew about judgment. Mothers always tell us that everybody is special, and the old response is, Doesn’t that mean, really, that nobody is special?

Well, no. Being special isn’t what makes you special. What makes you special is how you look at the world. It’s unique, utterly and completely individual. No one else has seen the world exactly the way you see it.

I’m about to get really deep, so put on your mental SCUBA.

In my literature class this year, my professor said something that absolutely blew my mind. I kind of already knew it, but hearing it made me look at life differently. Ready? Here it is:

“No two people have read the same thing.”

That is just philosophical as heck. We always think about people’s different writing styles, and how pieces of writing are unique, but what about reading? When you think about it, writing and reading make up a two-way street.

Each reader has a separate focus, method of interpretation, and personal application. Allow me to embellish…

Focus

Every person is looking for something different when he or she reads. People seek out various genres in hopes of finding whatever it is they’re looking for, or specific types of writing styles. Some people scan; others delve. Those who delve discover details, but each person’s eye is attracted to special kinds of details. It’s like the Eye of Sauron, except instead of the One Ring, it’s a line or paragraph or even just a word that can make one person’s eye shoot to it, when another person might gloss over it completely.

I’ll use myself as an example, since it’s the point of view I’m most comfortable with. I read optimistically. Don’t get me wrong, I love conflict; the worse the situation, the better. In moments between characters, though, I always lean toward the positive in my mind.

Take Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, for example. The Dursleys are truly barbaric to young Harry, even though they’re family. When I read through his experiences with them, I search for any and every moment that might reveal any affection toward Harry from the Dursleys. The fact that Uncle Vernon constantly declares that Harry needs a haircut could be an instance. Anything that might be an exception to apparent unhappiness, I latch onto like a barnacle to a whale. I just like subtle exceptions in general.

Other people might focus on negative moments. Still others might look for something else entirely. Also, no one has only one focus, so there are infinite reading styles considering focus alone.

Method of Interpretation

Method of interpretation is related to focus, but it’s not the same thing. Focus is what we look for when we read; interpretation is what we find. My grandpa used to say, “People hear what they want to hear, what they think they’re going to hear, or what they’re afraid they’ll hear.” This applies to reading as well.

I said before that I like subtle exceptions, especially when they’re positive. This is a good example of reading what you want to read. I think William Goldman does the same thing. This is from Goldman’s The Princess Bride:

In the mountains of Central Spain, set high in the hills above Toledo, was the village of Arabella. It was very small and the air was always clear. That was all you could say that was good about Arabella: terrific air—you could see for miles.

But there was no work, the dogs overran the streets and there was never enough food. The air, clear enough, was also too hot in daylight, freezing at night.

He makes it clear that other than its air, Arabella (ha, AIRabella, I just got that) is a slummy little town, and you really can’t say anything nice about it. He takes that one exception, though, and goes on and on about it. He makes it quite clear that the town has quality air. Usually, when I find an exception, the author isn’t so eager to make it. Goldman spoils me.

Now, when I say that people read what they want to, or think they will, or are afraid to, that doesn’t mean I think they’ll completely miss the author’s point. (Well, some do, but that’s only a thin slice of the people pie.) I just mean that how one person interprets the content and the details will always be at least slightly off from another person’s interpretation.

Personal Application

This one serves as kind of an explanation for the first two. Personal application just means this: readers’ focuses and interpretations depend on their own lives.

Even if you could find two people that were born with the same personality, I guarantee you that 20 years later, they would be totally different people. This is because everyone leads a different life. Your life is unique because of 1) your soul, or your character, and 2) the environment to which you’ve been exposed.

This is why each person has a unique worldview. No one with your personality has been exposed to the world in the same way you have. This is why, when you read something, you don’t have to see it exactly the way everyone else does, or even the way the author meant it.

The core purpose of reading, I think, is to provoke thought, to inspire. And you’re allowed to think whatever you want. The mind is the freest place on earth.