A note of explanation is in order here. Throughout this study I use the terms linear and nonlinear thinking in a broad fashion that some scientists might find unsettling, and therefore it becomes important to clarify the application that I intend. In my sense of the phrase, linear thinking works according to exclusionary, cause-and-cffcct logic: one for one. It sees the whole as equal to the sum of its parts. It moves toward closure by seeking a single resolution to a particular problem. Nonlinear thinking eschews this sort of closure and seeks to sustain multiplicity: one for many. The whole exceeds the sum of its parts. It maintains a range of perspectives, and endeavors to promote multiple responses by refusing to privilege any one point of view over the others.A number of useful concepts have grown out of this perspective. Field theory, for example, invites us to rethink the dependability- of our perceptions by challenging the presumption that measurements are nonintrusive. It asserts that we cannot observe something without influencing that which we observe and hence influencing the outcome of every- measurement that we make. Incorporating this concept into even the most conventional approach to literary criticism quickly strips away any pretense of objectivity or stability and instead draws attention to the mercurial subjectivity of the act.