CONCLUSION

    To sum it all up, whatever meaning lies behind Patchwork Girl, it is all achieved through a vigorous interaction between the reader and the text. The reader chooses which way he or she prefers to move around the narrative and he or she makes associations and connections, which are not unlike the electronic links made available to us. A typical hypertext like Jackson’s utilises the qualities of collage and it pushes the potential of the digital word and image by heightening reader intrigue and making them a more active participant of the reading process. Although there are no clear demarcation of chapters and themes, we still attain positive results - readers who are self-motivated and have a greater sense of achievement. This is in line with Barthes’ distinction between Readerly and Writerly texts. However, for readers to get accustomed to this new style of reading, it requires a certain amount of receptiveness to change. The question of authorial control would also arise soon enough – but these topics or questions are not what this paper set out to resolve. Instead, this paper has proven that “the goal of literary work is to make the reader no longer a consumer but a producer of the text” ( Landow, S/Z 4).