Wild Duck Journal 5

A good author does not tie up all loose ends at the end of their novel. Instead, they purposely leave the reader wondering what is going to happen, they want to keep us interested and thinking. In both Oedipus the King and Wild Duck the authors leave many questions unanswered. In Oedipus, the reader is left wondering what becomes of the newly blind man Oedipus the former king, what is the fate for his sisters/children? "Drive me out of Thebes in exile" (250). Even thought the reader has an idea of what is to happen, the author cleverly leaves out enough information to keep us guessing. A good author creates more questions in the readers mind than answers. Like in Oedipus the King, This is also the case in Wild Duck. The reader is left wondering what will become of Gina and Hjalmar after Hedvig's death. "In less than a year little Hedvig will be nothing more to him than a pretty theme for recitations"(216). Loose ends and unanswered questions are how authors usually end their books, as we can see this is the case here. Both Sophocles and Ibsen stay to the similar style that they write their plays with. The ambiguous and question filled books end just like they had written them, full of question and not very many answers.