History AmbiguousSituation / Literature

* Creator/JoseMariaEguren: In "Ananké", is the girl the aforementioned Greek goddess of fate? Or is she an AnthropomorphicPersonification of virtue itself? The text of the {{poe|try}}m strongly implies the latter but the title and some verses favor the former.

* ''Literature/{{Dortmunder}}'' : Whether the author's DarkerAndEdgier ''Literature/{{Parker}}'' novels exist as a fictional series in this universe or they are part of a SharedUniverse with a different ''Parker'' novel series existing can be hard to tell.

* ''Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado'': One of the most discussed aspects of the story is the end when Fortunato gives Montresor no final response before he is walled up completely. Is he too terrified? Or is he refusing to give Montresor any final satisfaction over his death? Even Montresor himself doesn't seem to know.

* In the short story ''Literature/{{Mariam}}'', an elderly woman named Mariam happens to meet a CreepyChild who is also named Mariam. What, exactly, the younger Mariam is is never explained. She is able to coerce the older Mariam into giving over a prized brooch and adopting her, but never actually does anything threatening or forceful to get those things. When the older Mariam goes to get her neighbors to help her get the kid out of her apartment, they can't find her. [[spoiler:And the last line ("Hello," said Mariam) doesn't specify if it's the elderly Mariam speaking, or if the younger Mariam has returned.]]

*** GeneralRipper BananaRepublic President Juan Pozos from the first and third ''Grofield'' is the target of a coup attempt as a subplot in ''Good Behavior''.

* ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': Are the brats meeting their comeuppances merely cases of ContrivedCoincidence (each winds up in a room with something that appeals to them but turns out to be dangerous), or are they planned in advance by Mr. Willy Wonka? And if so, for what purpose? Although the tour does turns out to be a SecretTest of the kids' virtue or lack thereof, there is no hint given in the novel that Mr. Wonka is intentionally leading these kids into potential/inevitable trouble, and no one remarks upon how odd it is that the Oompa-Loompas' {{Crowd Song}}s about them are so specific and elaborate. Given that Mr. Wonka is also marked by his CallousnessTowardsEmergency and having NoSympathy for the brats, and for being a complete eccentric, he has since become an InterpretativeCharacter with tons of {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s and some adaptations of the novel have since played around with this ambiguity but never pinned it down. (In [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory the 2013 musical]], Mr. Wonka is AmbiguouslyEvil and an AntiHero ''at best'', with director Creator/SamMendes admitting that the character could be a CoolUncle, he could be {{Satan}}...)

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}},'' Embry is seemingly unrelated to the Quileute tribe--he moved to the reservation with his single mother as a kid. But then he becomes a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent shapeshifter]], despite that being a power that seemingly only occurs in certain Quileute bloodlines. This means that his father must have been one of the men from these families (all of whom were married, and are fathers of the other werewolves), but we never find out whom. [[AllThereInTheManual Extra materials]] imply that it was Sam's dad.

* ''LightNovel/ASimpleSurvey'' has a number of short stories that end before giving a clear resolution. For example, one story is about how humans have developed technology that allows them to see into hell, which appears as a pleasant beach resort. A demon tells the narrator that, although they were instructed by God to torment sinners, the inherent nature of demons is to rebel against divine authority, so hell is in fact a nice place. However, an angel then interrupts and claims that this is a lie, to trick humans into wanting to enter hell voluntarily.

* ''Literature/TheCulture'': In ''Literature/SurfaceDetail'', the story of a resurrected woman out for revenge against her murderer and a proxy war over the existence of virtual-reality hells converge with the revelation that [[spoiler: one of the murderer's business interests is providing processing power to run the hells.]] The question is, was the woman's RoaringRampageOfRevenge a ContrivedCoincidence or was she being used as a catspaw in a BatmanGambit by the officially-neutral Culture?
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Garranon is the king's "favourite" and it is left ambiguous whether he is actually gay/bi or just does it for the political power. [[spoiler: It is clear that he despises the king, but he does enjoy the sex to some extent, though he does it only to protect his family.]]

* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'': ''Lieutenant Hornblower'' is the only book of the series written from the POV of a character other than Hornblower (in this case, newly-assigned Lieutenant Bush). The Captain falls down a hatchway and is put in a coma. Through the course of the book, it's unclear if he fell by accident or if he was pushed by either a much-abused midshipman or Hornblower himself. Things are not made more clear by Hornblower appointing himself head of the investigation in the confusion caused by the power vacuum, nor by his insistence that they press on a planned attack on a Spanish fort, keeping everyone too occupied to look into things too closely. By the end of the book, the Captain is killed in a Spanish attack on the ship, the authorities refuse to probe into the matter for the sake of Sawyer's reputation (it should be noted that he had started to go mad), and the Midshipman is mentioned in the denouement as being lost in a storm a few months later during the Peace of Amiens, meaning only Hornblower may know the truth, and is keeping it to himself.

* In the short story ''Literature/{{Mariam}}'', an elderly woman named Mariam happens to meet a CreepyChild who is also named Mariam. What, exactly, the younger Mariam is is never explained. She is able to coerce the older Mariam into giving over a prized brooch and adopting her, but never actually does anything threatening or forceful to get those things. When the older Mariam goes to get her neighbors to help her get the kid out of her apartment, they can't find her. [[spoiler: And the last line ("Hello," said Mariam) doesn't specify if it's the elderly Mariam speaking, or if the younger Mariam has returned.]]

** Is Clyntahn a raving lunatic [[BelievingTheirOwnLies Believing His Own Lies]], or is he cynically playing the part? Most fans seem convinced of the former, although characters in-story wonder about it. When [[spoiler: the truth of Safehold's history is revealed to him just before his execution, it's revealed to be the former. He's utterly broken with the realization everything he had done and justified as doing for the good of the people was based on a lie]].

* ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'': [[spoiler:When Rielle defeats Corien, future-Eliana and Remy disappear since their timeline no longer came to pass. The epilogue only focuses on the aftermath of the battle with Corien, leaving it unclear what the fate of Navi, Harkan, and all the other Third Age characters are.]]

* ''LightNovel/AWildLastBossAppeared'':

* In ''The Big Brag'', by Creator/DrSeuss, a worm claims he has super eyesight, but it's hard to tell if that's true or if he was lying to teach the bragging bear and rabbit a lesson.

* ''Literature/CuriousGeorge'': In one book, George has to go to hospital for surgery to remove a swallowed jigsaw piece and while there, he cheers up a sad girl named Betsy. The exact reason for Betsy's sadness is unrevealed-- it could be that she's AfraidOfDoctors, or she could be seriously ill.
* In the ''Literature/DinosaurVs'' book "Dinosaur vs. the Potty", it ends with the narrator saying that the potty won and that Dinosaur was "close", suggesting that Dinosaur [[PottyFailure had an accident]], but he appears to be standing at the toilet.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': In "The Philosopher's Stone", Ron teases Hermione and this offends her so much that she [[BathroomStallOfAngst cries in the bathroom]]. Then, a troll attacks the bathroom and Harry and Ron save Hermione, who lies that she went out looking for it. It's a little bit unclear whether she lied about the troll to save face or to forgive Ron, or even both.

* ''Literature/InTheNightKitchen'': Is the boy only dreaming, or did he really fall out of his clothes and help the bakers bake cake? The sheer surreality of the adventure hints at the former, but the note that everyone else has cake every day thanks to Mickey hints at the latter.
* ''Literature/ItsOkayToSayNo'' is meant to protect kids from molesters and has several stories on the subject, but (with the exception of the odd villain who directly touched the kids) it is never revealed whether the characters really are molesters or if it's just a misunderstanding (for instance, the man who offered the little girl a present-- was he attempting to lure her, or did he genuinely just want to offer her a present?).

* ''Literature/LoveYouForever'': At the end, the mother is "too old and sick" to finish her song. It is unknown if she died or will recover or what. While it's probably unlikely she will recover due to the phrase "old and sick" usually referring to terminal illnesses that come with age, there's still a small possibility, and some people even think she actually died on-page. The most likely interpretation is that the story ends with her dying, but not dead yet.

* In ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'', it's revealed that Miss Honey's father, Magnus, is dead and that the police think he killed himself but that he never seemed suicidal. Matilda speculates that Miss Trunchbull killed him and made it look like suicide. While Miss Trunchbull certainly is evil, and she ran away at the message "I will get you like you got me", anyone would be shocked if a chalk wrote on the board on its own, much less using your name, claiming to be a dead person, and threatening you, so it's still unrevealed how Magnus Honey died.

* In ''Literature/SamBangsAndMoonshine'', the story heavily implies that Sam is only pretending Bangs can talk, because the moral is not to lie and in the end she admits that cats can't talk. However, at one point, she seems unsure about whether Bangs can talk, which suggests that maybe she is hallucinating or he really can talk.

* In the kids' book ''Literature/ATerribleThingHappened'', a boy named Sherman gets advice from his teacher after "something terrible" happens. He and his sister have InvisibleParents, and all of the conversations are unrevealed, so we never find out what the terrible thing is, or [[NothingIsScarier even if the parents are all right]].
* In the children's book ''Literature/TillysBigProblem'', a little girl named Tilly is in a very gloomy mood and not even jokes can cheer her up, so she and her friend Ned test to see which adult will help solve Tilly's "big problem" and therefore cheer her up. They find one, and he talks to her (the actual conversation is not revealed) and she cheers up. What's ambiguous is ''why Tilly's sad''. It's referred to as a "big problem", but what sort of big problem is left unsaid.
* In ''Literature/TheTrueStoryOfTheThreeLittlePigs'', the big bad wolf (named Alexander) is in jail and claims that he went to the pigs' houses to borrow some sugar but had a cold, so blew the houses down accidentally by sneezing, then [[AccidentalMurder the pigs died in the destruction]] and he ate them to clean up. It's unclear if this really is the true story, or if Alexander is just lying.

* ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'': In "In Which Pooh Invents a New Game and Eeyore Joins In", Tigger makes a strange coughing sound, leaps forward (refferred to by Tigger as "boffing"; a portmanteu of "bouncing" and "coughing"), and knocks Eeyore into the river. Eeyore believes that Tigger "bounced" him into the river on purpose as a joke (since that is his sense of humour) but Tigger maintains that he did it by accident due to the cough. We never find out who's right.

* In ''My Cousin Rachel'', the titular Rachel is either an evil FemmeFatale who poisoned her first husband Ambrose in a failed attempt to inherit his estate and tried to do the same to the estate's inheritor Philip after seducing him or an innocent woman who was unfairly maligned by Ambrose when he began going mad from a brain tumor that eventually killed him and Philip falling ill in her care was just a coincidence. The book ends with her dying and Philip being none the wiser on whether she truly was evil or not.

* In ''The True Story of the Three Little Pigs'', the big bad wolf (named Alexander) is in jail and claims that he went to the pigs' houses to borrow some sugar but had a cold, so blew the houses down accidentally by sneezing, then [[AccidentalMurder the pigs died in the destruction]] and he ate them to clean up. It's unclear if this really is the true story, or if Alexander is just lying.

* ''Literature/WearingTheCape'': The question of what exactly {{Kitsune}} is comes up multiple times, and an answer is hinted at more than once, before Hope eventually decides [[RiddleForTheAges there's no way she's ever going to know for sure]]. Especially since Kitsune himself clearly finds it hilarious to keep her guessing.

* ''Literature/RamonaQuimby'': In one book, the Quimby sisters are made to cook dinner [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment as punishment]] for being {{Picky Eater}}s. They make a dish that they themselves dislike, but which the parents claim to like. The narration and the actual sisters speculate on whether the parents actually liked the dinner, or if they were pretending to like it to spare their daughters' feelings, without ever coming to a conclusion.