Why didn't he come clean? Of course, they took "The Purloined Ribbon" to be his sort of allegorical way of suggesting that he couldn't possibly confess because nobody can confess, there's no human subjectivity, etc., etc., etc.

为什么不全盘招供，当然，人们把他写的“偷窃的缎带“当成他用一种讽喻的方式,来暗示说他不可能承认,因为没有人能承认，人类主观性的缺失，等等等等。

文学理论导论课程节选 : 耶鲁公开课