Intentional Confusion In The Member Of The Wedding

Henry Dean

Mrs. Muller

English 2H

2/9/23

The Importance of Confusion in Writing

Starting a new book sometimes feels like being plunged into a new world without context. Though, as the book goes on, the blind spots seem to fade to reveal a fleshed out and detailed world. Books such as The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers use this intentional confusion to their advantage. The main character, Frankie Addams, grows up confused about herself and her place in the world. As a twelve-year-old girl, Frankie begins to think about love and makes attempts to become more “mature”. Whilst Frankie struggles to learn about herself, she also becomes captivated with her brother, Jarvice, and her soon-to-be sister-in-law’s wedding. The wedding represents

Intentional confusion creates gaps and suspense in the story that is captivating to the reader. When the story comes together and the confusion created by the writer is filled in, a moment of catharsis or understanding comes to the reader, acting as a payoff for the story. This moment of true understanding adds to the overall reading experience of the story and is, in some cases, the most important section of the story. For example, the moment of understanding for the reader in The Member of the Wedding, is when Frankie finally learns true maturity: “There had been a time, only yesterday, when she felt that every person that she saw was somehow with herself and there was between the two of them an instant recognition. Frances …” In this final part of the story, Frankie realizes that maturity doesn’t mean she has to put on a persona of being a perfect girl who buys dresses and goes on dates. She mentions that she used to believe that others joined her in her dream reality of living in a perfect world, but now she realizes that love isn’t shared between all. She has come to the realization that maturity can’t be forced. In this section, her name changes to Frances, this final moment of catharsis combined with her newfound maturity allows the reader to learn that the name changes throughout the story represent Frankie’s maturity. Now as Frances, Frankie

This argument does have some validity, as confusion can cause problems overall for the reader within the story. Sometimes confusing the reader ultimately leads to the story and overall message being lost. If the writer doesn’t make an effort to make up for the confusion by gradually working up to a point of full understanding, the piece will fall short. Similarly, confusion can cause a reader to lose interest and force readers to put too much effort into understanding the plot. Despite its partial validity, this argument has flaws. Some may attribute unintentional confusion to intentional confusion, without realizing that lazy writing is far different from purposeful writing. When confusion is implemented correctly, it acts more as an aid rather than an obstacle to the reader. Secondly, depending on their reading level, a reader should be expected to put in some work to gain full understanding from a piece. While intentional confusion may not be helpful to younger readers, in higher level books it acts as another literary component that should be understood. Overall, readers must understand that many stories are confusing due to poor writing skills rather than an engineered and planned suspense