How Interpretations can Alter a Text
Within the first class of English 203, we started by analyzing a rather comical tweet. The tweet was captioned “Suspicious pants”. We gathered into groups and discussed our thoughts regarding the tweet and it’s meaning. At first, my group laughed and joked a bit because I don’t think we were expecting the first assignment of our English class to involve a tweet. As we began actually discussing the meaning of the tweet, we came to the conclusion that the pants are suspicious. Then, the entire class began a discussion about the different meanings we all decided upon. The discussion was intriguing because we didn’t just get to just hear about our own thoughts, but we got to hear everyone’s thoughts. The point that resonated with me the most was the point of the failures of language. My group stated aloud the point of “the pants are suspicious”. Beth, then pointed out the statement could possibly have two meanings. The pants could be suspicious themselves, or the pants could be suspicious of us. At first I thought we failed to state our point correctly, but then we realized that it wasn’t our fault, language just sometimes fails to articulate the meaning correctly. It isn’t always the English language’s fault though. People interpret the language differently. When we stated our point in class, Beth and probably others in the class interpreted differently than we did. We meant that the pants are suspicious of us, but others interpreted as we should be suspicious of the pants. Different interpretations of text lead to different meanings can be beneficial to readers because they make individuals think.
Interpretations of text can alter the meaning. The first text we read in English 203 was The Bacchae. We read, analyzed, and discussed the plot and meaning of the play. We then began reading Frenzy by Percival Everett. This interpretation of the story of Dionysus was much different than The Bacchae. It’s the same story, but told though the perspective of the seer, Vlepo. Vlepo gives a larger insight to the characters in the book. For instance, in The Bacchae, Zeus had very little effect on me in relation to the storyline. I knew he was Dionysus’s father, but I didn’t think about him as being an actual character with thoughts and feelings. More specifically, the moment when he revealed himself to Semele. From The Bacchae I thought Zeus just killed her, I didn’t quite understand how or why. Zeus and Semele had relations and had conceived Dionysus. Semele had never seen Zeus in his true form, and begged him to show her his true self. He wanted to appease her needs, and showed her. This, in the end, kills her and Zeus then has to carry Dionysus on his leg until he is born. This entirely changed my perspective on the family relationship among Zeus, Semele, and Dionysus. I think Zeus may have actually had feelings for Semele, but my previous thoughts were that Zeus didn’t care at all. These different interpretations also altered my opinion on which piece I liked better. Having more insights the the minds of characters within a text tends to make me have a better understanding, which therefore leads me to enjoy a work of writing better. Different interpretations among texts, can have different effects on readers.
The language within a text also alter my interpretation. In Frenzy, Everett describes Zeus, Dionysus’s father, as “costive”. I knew the literal meaning of this word, and didn’t plan of thinking anything else of it. This is a personal problem of mine, not thinking too deeply into text, and observing it just as it is. But then, the class started a discussion. He wasn’t actually constipated, he was full of it. He was full of problems and drama that he had created for himself. This word made me start to have a different insight of Zeus. He had so much building up inside of him, and that is the reason for his actions. This is the problem with language. Words and phrases have so many different meanings and interpretations. A person may never know if they are interpreting a text in the way in which the author meant it to be.
Could a certain interpretation be wrong?
I don’t think an interpretation can be wrong. It may not be the way an author intended their text to be interpreted, but language has too many different meanings for that to always happen. One text can mean something to someone, and mean something completely different to someone else. Language is the reason for all of this. Just like the discussion from the first day of class, everyone interprets things differently. It is an important concept to understand because it helps me to think about and expand upon the knowledge I already have.