My formal training in literature began by reading the Bible. For years, I was in an environment of fear where all such literature had to be interpreted through one anxious question: what is the singular meaning of this text? As years went by – and as I got better teachers – I began to learn that a good text might have five or six interesting meanings. I realised that good literature lasts, not because it has one interpretation, but because successive generations of readers have given it careful attention; using their understanding, learning, imagination and lives.
i've also had this experience of the singular vs many meanings
