The narrator of this story is aware that the story is written “ there are references made to grammar and language, and to the words being fiction. Barth uses the narrator to address issues of story writing “ he mentions several different ways the story could end. In the end, the fact that Ambrose is left all alone is very symbolic. The love of his life and his older brother ran off together to another part of the funhouse. Ambrose is left all alone, betrayed, in a hall of mirrors. Note that the story takes place on Independence Day and how Ambrose is learning about being his own person. The mirrors in the funhouse could be seen as fragments of Ambrose “ he is confronted with images of himself, with no way out. The crazy, wacky funhouse could symbolize how Ambrose has trouble finding his way out of his emotions now that Magda has gone off. The funhouse is a huge part of the story. Not only does it represent his love life, but also his awkward stage in life is like a funhouse: nothing makes sense. He is afraid in the funhouse, like he is afraid in life. The mathematical equations in this story suggest a couple of things: there are parts to Ambrose that he has to figure out, like how he feels and who is growing into. Also, the equations are parts of the story's structure. Barth deconstructs the actual writing of a short story while writing Ambrose's story. "Lost in the Funhouse" is about the technique of building plot and characters and making things interesting without getting "lost." Barth was a master at analytical writing, but also knew the dangers of it -- sometimes, when you look too closely at things, or study your feelings too much, they don't make sense anymore. The last line of the story suggests that, for writers, or those who create rather than experience, there exists an emptiness “ Ambrose, and perhaps Barth, as an author, realized that he will be forever in the role of "constructing funhouses for others," never in the role as the lovers who are allowed inside. The layout of the story is weird. It looks like there are parts of the story out of order and math problems in the middle. They all are part of some equations or formula Barth wants you to put together. The crazy nature of the story makes the story a funhouse in itself. In "Lost in the Funhouse,  the author, John Barth, writes a story about someone, a narrator, who is himself writing a story about Ambrose, a boy of thirteen. In writing the story about Ambrose, the narrator also comments on the techniques of fiction and the problems and concerns that confront a writer of fiction who is trying to write a story. To complicate the matter further, the narrator may or may not be Ambrose. If the narrator is Ambrose, then Ambrose is writing a story about Ambrose writing a story about Ambrose. Certainly the story is about Ambrose.  But, the story's central project is the exploration of the process of writing and the compensations of imagination. The story's constant metafictional play highlights that the process of writing and the exploration of imagination is akin to the life of the contemplative mind.  Like a great writer, Ambrose is too sensitive to live as happily in the funhouse of life as his happy-go-lucky brother Peter can.  It is easier to live life without thinking too deeply; but, if one must contemplate rather than act, and it seems that Ambrose must, then the imagination will be a vital compensation.  To explain how one might share and use that imagination as a writer, Barth employs metafiction both as a lesson on the frustrations of writing and reading and as a warning about the limitations of a (writer's) life.  The story suggests that Peter will be happier and more sexually fulfilled, but Ambrose will become the next Proust Plot-wise, not much occurs within this narrative. In a nutshell, a teenage boy named Ambrose travels with his family to Ocean City, Maryland, where they spend most of their time sunbathing at the beach, going on amusement park rides, and entertaining themselves with games at the Ocean City boardwalk. Ambrose is nervous because he really likes this girl named Magda, and wants to develop the courage to confess his love for her. Although he eventually invites Magda to go into a funhouse with him, Magda eventually trails off with Ambrose's brother, Peter, leaving him alone and isolated within the dark confines of the funhouse. The rest of the narrative traces Ambrose's thoughts and dissatisfaction caused not only by his inability to express his feelings, but also  by his inability to escape from the funhouse. This plot, however, constitutes a really small part of the narrative. "Lost in the Funhouse  is peppered with moments of self-reflexivity and meta-awareness, and the narrator often deviates from the plot in order to make claims regarding the intricacies of language, the difficulties of writing, and the impossibility of literary innovation. Within this narrative, we ha