The Death of the Author debate is way too blinkered in scope

[Dragonus45]

You're missing the point. Almost willfully it seems.

It's all on the page. If you are confused. You look at the page. The Author is dead, don't ask the author. If what is on the page is insufficient, then the work is poorly written.

If you are confused, and the author has something to say. Listen to the author. Sure if they start outright contradicting themselves, like I already said, all bets are off. But they are the final authority on what they write. Not you, not some over important critic. The writer. They wrote it, they know what it means.