ambiguity

A situation, sequence of events, scene, character, line of dialogue, etc. that does not have a clear meaning. If something is ambiguous, it is difficult to interpret with certainty. However, ambiguity is a good way to enrich a story; in real life, we are not always sure what is going on around us, so we should not expect to know exactly what is going on in a novel or poem either. At the same time, if every part of a story were ambiguous, we might have good reason to throw up our hands. Ambiguity can leave us confused and asking questions, and it can inspire us to think about different possibilities. When there is more than one interpretation, after all, then we have something to talk about with our friends. If an author uses ambiguity, for instance, to help us see the world through a character's eyes or to challenge our minds, we should embrace the difficulty.