The play Six Characters in Search of an Author uses deception and limiting the narrative to question the idea of reality. The novel plays between two contingents, the actors and the characters. The former questions the sanity and validity of the latter constantly throughout the play. The third actor actually states the “They are either insane or charlatans”(Pirandello, 30). This implies a strong lack of faith to their story which hinges on the idea that they are characters inside a novel. This disconnect between the literal characters of the story (which encompasses the actors as well) as to what is really occurring. With the characters unable to understand their reality, the reader is left incapable of having a full understanding of what is truly happening. The end also highlights the deception Pirandello uses throughout the novel. By intentionally leaving the end vague and confusing, the audience cannot feel the comforting closure that comes with the finishing of a novel, something we clearly depend on to make sense of any story. This clearly had an effect on the performance of the play in its first run in theatres. The play wasn’t a success mainly because of its confusing nature.