Lamppost

A lamppost is featured in each of the final screens of chapters 7 to 15. Davey initially states they were placed by Coda while creating those levels, but by the end of the game, in Tower, a message left by Coda reveals that they were actually added by Davey.

This has led to the possible interpretation that Davey and Coda are the same person (or at least that Coda is a younger Davey). This would mean that both are right when they say the other put the lampposts in the levels.

Another theory behind the lampposts is that Davey wanted the game to have a common thread, therefore giving more meaning to the games. Another theory suggests that the lampposts represent a chapter of Coda's life ending, as the lampposts do always appear at the end of later chapters. It is left to interpretation.

The first lamppost, found at the end of Down, is the only one that doesn't look completely out of place visually and environmentally, leading some players to believe that only the first lamppost was included in Coda's original design, with all subsequent lampposts added by Davey.

It's important to note the obvious thematic conflict between lampposts and the dark spaces - which in itself mirrors the conflict between Davey and Coda.

Fans of the game have proposed the term "lampposting" as a verb that indicates that a person is adding their own meaning (perhaps not even a welcome, correct or even benign interpretation) to other people's works - which, naturally, is something all critics (and even audience) must do to some degree when evaluating any form of expressive art. Some of the reviews for The Beginner's Guide go as far as putting lampposts on the screen when they are taking a leap of logic and trying to discern the intentions and inner state of the author (in this case game developer Davey Wreden) through their work, which is one of the main conflicts between narrator-Davey and Coda.