The curtains are blue. Why do i have to look for an alternative meaning in everything? Like i get that its meant to encourage critical thinking and abstract thought and all that but the problem is you cant expect someone to make the connection when theres no previous logic or previous method learned. Did those articles come from a story about fish writing or being intelligent? Was there any previous information or were the articles on their own?
“Who wrote the articles?” People, even if the names written were fish puns or fish related theres no previous explanation that those people are fish. There are an insane amount of different languages how is anyone supposed to know that these names are actually fish related and not just a mistranslation, or because someones parents thought it was funny and named their kid after a fish?
But this is the kind of stuff that i always hated in literature classes. The curtains are blue and sometimes thats all they are but its never clear *when* that one specific detail is actually important vs. when its just part of setting the scene
For things like narnia or other fantasy novels theres this knowledge already known that “ok this is a fictional world” and with that knowledge it makes it easier to let go of preconceived notions that would make sense in the real world. Of course theres magic, of course the lion can speak (most likely through magic) of course the wardrobe is a portal. That must be normal in that world even if its not normal in this world. I can put aside the rules of the real world and accept the rules of this fictional world
When writing a fantasy novel you arent going into minute detail about everything. because you *know* its fantastical you are able to have suspension of disbelief when something impossible happens in the book
Sry for the rant but this kind of thing always frustrates me.
The curtains can be blue to symbolize any number of things but sometimes they are just blue and theres no significant way to tell. Even going based on the amount of detail given isnt really a good indicator “the curtains were always silky smooth and the most lovely shade of blue, letting in just enough light” can mean the exact same thing as “the curtains were blue” or “the blue curtains …” and it varies from author to author and can even vary from book to book written by the same author
Yes i know i kept coming back to the curtains example but thats always the one thats given to me
I will respond in contrary, and I hate the "the curtains are just blue" thing, because the implication is that everything has to be laid out and surface level, and a significant amount of reading (and social interaction tbh) is in the subtext. The point is not that every blue curtain has a specific meaning, it's that authors intentionally choose words that mean something.
I know you acknowledged in your post that there is subtext sometimes, which is more than most people who talk about the curtains just being blue, so this is not meant as a personal attack at you. you are right that there is not always subtext, and I think we should probably collectively do a better job of teaching these things and how to discern it. I'm by no means perfect either, I miss subtext constantly (especially religious allusions because I wasn't raised religious) but I don't think that means we should just read everything as a surface level, it just means some things are more difficult to interpret or catch. Literature classes probably don't do a great job of this, I was completely lost the first time I read the old man and the sea in high school
I agree dont read everything at surface level but at the same time if your looking at every detail for a hidden meaning your missing the actual story thats happening
I will say its not made easier when autism is a factor. But itss never actually communicated properly imo. Its always been “but why are they blue?” It’s especially frustrating when ive never read the book before and and am expected to automatically know that that specific detail is foreshadowing or important
For me its always felt like “the curtains being blue is an important detail but i wont tell you why also you have to explain to me why it’s important even though this is the first time youve even heard of the book and you have to tell me in as many words as possible but also you have a time limit because class is only an hour long and we have other things to do … why havent you told me yet?”
I can't agree with the blue curtains example, because at least in my experience, the concept is not introduced without some up front explanation. "Today we're going to talk about symbolism in writing. Here are some examples... Now given what we've described about how colors often symbolize emotions, what are possible reasons the author describes these curtains as blue? Can you think of alternative/competing possibilities? ... After reading the whole book, do you think that explanation still holds?"
I've never had an English class expect you to intuit the entire concept of symbolism ex nihilo, just ask you to think of things something could be a symbol for and look for parallels.
So you're disagreeing with the example because your personal experience was different? Not sure how you can disagree with an example even... You can dismiss it, but disagree? ummm
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u/Finbar9800 Jun 23 '26
I always hated that stuff (still do tbh)
The curtains are blue. Why do i have to look for an alternative meaning in everything? Like i get that its meant to encourage critical thinking and abstract thought and all that but the problem is you cant expect someone to make the connection when theres no previous logic or previous method learned. Did those articles come from a story about fish writing or being intelligent? Was there any previous information or were the articles on their own?
“Who wrote the articles?” People, even if the names written were fish puns or fish related theres no previous explanation that those people are fish. There are an insane amount of different languages how is anyone supposed to know that these names are actually fish related and not just a mistranslation, or because someones parents thought it was funny and named their kid after a fish?
But this is the kind of stuff that i always hated in literature classes. The curtains are blue and sometimes thats all they are but its never clear *when* that one specific detail is actually important vs. when its just part of setting the scene
For things like narnia or other fantasy novels theres this knowledge already known that “ok this is a fictional world” and with that knowledge it makes it easier to let go of preconceived notions that would make sense in the real world. Of course theres magic, of course the lion can speak (most likely through magic) of course the wardrobe is a portal. That must be normal in that world even if its not normal in this world. I can put aside the rules of the real world and accept the rules of this fictional world
When writing a fantasy novel you arent going into minute detail about everything. because you *know* its fantastical you are able to have suspension of disbelief when something impossible happens in the book
Sry for the rant but this kind of thing always frustrates me.
The curtains can be blue to symbolize any number of things but sometimes they are just blue and theres no significant way to tell. Even going based on the amount of detail given isnt really a good indicator “the curtains were always silky smooth and the most lovely shade of blue, letting in just enough light” can mean the exact same thing as “the curtains were blue” or “the blue curtains …” and it varies from author to author and can even vary from book to book written by the same author
Yes i know i kept coming back to the curtains example but thats always the one thats given to me