Can a piece of literature function as a 'code'?

[Kyriakos]

By this i do not mean if it can contain a code as part of the plot (Poe's the golden bug is an example of that) but if the actual piece itself is a code for a hidden meaning.

A few days ago i wrote a story in which protagonist (narrator) and antagonist are in code probably one and the same person, unaware to the protagonist.

I tried to be as subtle as i could, having clues like the age of the two (the antagonist being 3 years older, but having died, and the narration happening three years after the events described took place the antagonist having died probably as the protagonist is moving to a new house, a "great white building", meant to be decoded as an asylum, and others) and a brief moment in the climax of the story where the protagonist is of the view that he sees his reflection onto a book cover, that reminds him of the other person.

Being subtle is not that hard, what is more hard is at the same time being subtle and having left enough clues for one to decipher what you meant.

But i would also like to ask you if you think such enigma-centered literature can function as a good read. Or if being way too subtle can have the opposite effect, namely the reader either not noticing anything going on, or being frustrated that he cannot understand that something which he is sure he is missing.

 

[Winner]

Speaking as a casual reader now - it needs to be done exceptionally well to impress me. Some authors think god knows how clever and subtle they are, but in reality I know what's going on since very early on an the rest of their work just bores me to death. Other times they are so confusing that their piece is too frustrating for me to read, so I throw it away. Sometimes they just leave so many plot holes to make the "enigma" work that I actually feel insulted.

But again, I am mostly a casual reader and in that mode I only read things I believe I might like.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Book of Revalations springs to mind.

 

[dusters]

cater to stupid. Write like a genius but for common folk. All my tales have been said to be understandable only by intellectual feaks who have encylopedia in their head like me.

So if you don't cross reference whole history since 4000 BC, and you use common symbols, which average Joe in your target audience can understand, go ahead.

 

[Kyriakos]

Well that is the idea, to be able to be read by the average person, and then have the more experienced with literature seek the hidden meanings.
But some stories due to their form can only stand on their feet if the enigma is at least realized as being there.

For example in my recent thread about The South, the story by Borges, although i have not been able to account for direct point by point transfer of reality into delirium, i still think the second part of the story is unreal, it is only the delirious thoughts and imagination of the narrator.

However if i did not have any clue at all that this was the case (Borges leaves a few very subtle ones) then i would have thought the story was rather absurd.
However here Borges' name played into the realization of there being an enigma. Most readers have not read my work, so i am not sure if it is a good idea to have such pieces published immediately...

@Winner:

True, there are many degrees of being subtle, and it can end badly either by the enigma not being understood as existant, or the enigma being too hard to decipher. In the process the story can be ruined with the plot machinations one created to cater to the enigma. But i do not think this happened in my story; the sole reader who read it was of the view that something was missing, something was strange, but i had to reveal to him what i had in mind, so probably the story ultimately (?) failed. I will have it read by some others and see what i make of it...

 

[civ_king]

By this i do not mean if it can contain a code as part of the plot (Poe's the golden bug is an example of that) but if the actual piece itself is a code for a hidden meaning.

A few days ago i wrote a story in which protagonist (narrator) and antagonist are in code probably one and the same person, unaware to the protagonist.

I tried to be as subtle as i could, having clues like the age of the two (the antagonist being 3 years older, but having died, and the narration happening three years after the events described took place the antagonist having died probably as the protagonist is moving to a new house, a "great white building", meant to be decoded as an asylum, and others) and a brief moment in the climax of the story where the protagonist is of the view that he sees his reflection onto a book cover, that reminds him of the other person.

Being subtle is not that hard, what is more hard is at the same time being subtle and having left enough clues for one to decipher what you meant.

But i would also like to ask you if you think such enigma-centered literature can function as a good read. Or if being way too subtle can have the opposite effect, namely the reader either not noticing anything going on, or being frustrated that he cannot understand that something which he is sure he is missing.

Yes a story can contain a hidden meaning, but the easiest way to do it is to have several audiences which find different things.

 

[del62]

When I read the title I thought you where talking about software code.

 

[Core Imposter]

Well, the shire was England and Mordor was Germany and such as that. Except that it was only in the eye of the beholder.

Personally, I favor simple shallow passion over deeper meanings. White knight Walker slays evil union communists and thereby saves humankind. Satan weeps. Works for me.

 

[Kyriakos]

Although that can be termed a code too, i was mostly thinking of consistent allegories (which have some common ground with computer language too i guess). For example:

Text1:

A man stands by a lake at night. Slowly he enters it, and his body disappears in a while. He never gets out and drowns.

Text2: Someone is deeply involved in thoughts of very introverted manner. It is an hour of silence. He continues to dwell on those thoughts, until some deeper truth is revealed to him and he is startled or shocked.

Text1 and Texxt2 are potentially the same meaning, although text1 is an allegory. The lake can be both object and symbol (like anything else in literature). Object of an actual lake. Symbol of the deeper realm of the internal world of thoughts. Sinking in the lake can signify being very deeply occupied with persistent thoughts. Drowning can mean a mental breakdown, a stroke, or an epiphany with some heavy cost.

Just to give a small example, anyway

 

[Kyriakos]

Although that can be termed a code too, i was mostly thinking of consistent allegories (which have some common ground with computer language too i guess). For example:

Text1:

A man stands by a lake at night. Slowly he enters it, and his body disappears in a while. He never gets out and drowns.

Text2: Someone is deeply involved in thoughts of very introverted manner. It is an hour of silence. He continues to dwell on those thoughts, until some deeper truth is revealed to him and he is startled or shocked.

Text1 and Texxt2 are potentially the same meaning, although text1 is an allegory. The lake can be both object and symbol (like anything else in literature). Object of an actual lake. Symbol of the deeper realm of the internal world of thoughts. Sinking in the lake can signify being very deeply occupied with persistent thoughts. Drowning can mean a mental breakdown, a stroke, or an epiphany with some heavy cost.

Just to give a small example, anyway