Well, some might say that there's no way to know what a work was "meant to contain." Or, why would any one person be the one to identify that a given work "contains" some thigns and not others. What about the role of the reader? I am consciously aware that I've chosen to read MT's Roughing It in a specific way, with an eye to specific things. I am willing to explicate the bulk of the book and "over-analyze" in light of my stated goal, but I admit I'm doing so. However, although it's not as if I'm using anything that isn't "in" the text, I suppose some might find my reading "wrong"--on what real grounds, though?