Locke's Influence on Modern Thinking (WEEK 4)

"Thinking... for myself? ...Why?"

John Locke pitched an interesting idea: the text he wrote was not subject to his reasons for writing the piece or his goal for the piece. You can write a piece that makes you feel a certain way. (Poetry is probably the best example) But people bring their own viewpoints and experience to the poetry you wrote. That sad couplet? That might make someone chuckle at an old flame. Or think of flowers in the rain or something weird.

In regards to the Enlightenment, this was a heavy idea. A reader had a certain amount of responsibility and this idea was not heavily considered prior. A story was a story, right? Now, there is interpretation and theorizing. Ever watched an episode of Twin Peaks? Same idea. You bring with you a level of understanding and experience no one else shares.
I do like Locke's piece a lot, and I think it's very interesting he would make mention of this type of relationship unfolding between a reader and a work of literature. I always assume most writers write their work with one meaning behind it (their own meaning being the correct one). I have heard of writers shooting down fans for their theories and then I have heard of writers being surprised that their work has been taken in such a different direction. I think it speaks highly of a work when more than one direction or meaning can be pulled from it.

In my Sherlock Holmes special topics class, we discussed the underlying concepts. For example, in "A Scandal in Bohemia", readers are introduced to the character of Irene Adler. "The woman" (As the text refers to her) who duped Sherlock. Now, in the films starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Rachel McAdams, the two characters are revealed to have prior history together. I had not read "A Scandal in Bohemia" before seeing the film so I was forced to try and forget this preconceived idea as I read the story. In class however, we looked at several lines of the text that may or may not have hinted at this possible prior relationship having transpired. It did not ruin the piece but simply provided a different way of looking at the story. (You could read this story and also not believe they had a relationship.) Bad example, perhaps, but I do like a movie with an ambiguous ending. Can we just talk about Inception already?! Does the top stop spinning?