Category: Jorge Luis Borges

The Art of Being Ambiguous In his collection of short stories, Ficciones, Jorge Luis Borges uses dreams, imagination and fantasy to establish ambiguity in his stories. With the use of juxtaposition and symbols, Borges blends a realm of dreams and imagination into the individual’s everyday worldly experiences. Through these devices, Borges commonly blurs the line between aspects of reality for his characters versus the constructs of his or her mind.

By combining the real with the fictitious, Borges incorporates ambiguity into his stories and introduces his readers to new perspectives of world around them. In “The South,” Borges establishes ambiguity by dropping subtle textual hints that would ultimately allow for the reader to attain vastly different interpretations of the same text. If taken at face value, the main character Dahlmann is released from a sanatorium after a serious head injury.

On the train ride back from the sanatorium, Borges hints that Dahlmann periodically transitions into his illusory past of the old South. Even as he enters the cab that would take him to the train station, he admits that “reality is partial to symmetries and slight anachronism” meaning that his past, although misplaced and irrelevant to modern times, continues to have significance in the present. The reader can argue that Dahlmann’s nostalgia induces illusions of the world from a time he remembered and celebrated it.

On the train ride back to his ranch, he describes that the car “was not the same car that had pulled out of the station… the plains and the hours had penetrated and transfigured it” and that Dahlmann “was traveling not only into the South but into the past ”. Borges uses this description to indicate that Dahlmann transcends into his fantasies of the old South on the train ride home as a result of a longing for the past. However, Borges also hints that Dahlmann might not have left the sanatorium at all, but has actually only dreamed about his release.

Some readers find it improbable how Dahlmann is told he is “coming right along” by the doctors at the sanatorium when only the day before Dahlmann was told that he was on the brink of death from septicemia. For Dahlmann, dying in the sanatorium would be a humiliating ending. When he is informed of his near death experience, Dahlmann felt “suddenly self-pitying” and broke down crying. Borges points out that Dahlmann aspires to be like his ancestors and die heroically in the old Argentinian manner. Because dying in the sanatorium would have een a disgrace for Dahlmann, Borges highlights the possibility that Dahlmann dreamed up a perfect, heroic death in which he would defend the honor of the Old South. This is portrayed when Dahlmann gears up to fight “a young thug”, symbolic of modern Argentina, outside a country store at the end of his journey. When Borges states that “it was as the South itself had decided that Dahlmann should accept the challenge”, he emphasizes how Dahlmann viewed himself as about to fight in the name of the Old South.

For this reason, it is arguable that Dahlmann fantasized his whole journey home and his dreams reflect how he desires to die a heroic death in reality. By incorporating these subtle hints throughout “The South”, Borges establishes ambiguity between whether Dahlmann had actually left the sanatorium or simply dreamed the whole story. Through this ambiguity, Borges allows for readers to form multiple interpretations to the same story. In “The Secret Miracle”, Borges blurs the line between the factual world and what constitutes as a fantasy by introducing the idea of having dreams transcend into reality.

The main character Hladik has begun to formulate his own play through the inner-workings of his imagination. Aspects of this play mimic Hladik’s reality as he reveals in the end that the main character of his play, Jaroslav Kubin, actually dreams up the events that occurred before in the story. “The play has not taken place; it is a circular delirium that Kubin endlessly experiences and re-experiences. ” As Kubin dreams up the plotline of his story, Hladik constructs and reenacts the plotline of the play in which Kubin is part of through a dream, thus incorporating a dream within a dream.

By juxtaposing Hladik’s reality and the play he has constructed in his mind, Borges introduces the overarching idea of how the mind constitutes for a different realm in which the dreamers and thinkers can shape, share, and confide in. This idea is again prominent when the bullet that is intended to kill Hladik on the day of his execution stops seconds before taking him. Borges states that, “in Hladik’s mind a year would pass between the order of the fire and the discharge of the rifle” as a result of God.

If taken at face value, God has intervened as promised in Hladik’s dream. If the reader was to interpret this story in this manner, it is clear that events from Hladik’s dream transform and impact his reality. In which case, Borges clouds the distinction between Hladik’s reality and dreams. However, oddly enough, when Hladik requests the assistance of God in a dream the night before, the librarian states “I myself have gone blind searching for it [God]”, indicating that presence of God is questionable at most.

If God is not yet found, He could not have given Hladik the extra year. By incorporating these subtle hints, Borges also allows the reader to interpret that it was solely Hladik’s perception of time, rather than the intervention of God, that allowed him another year. By blurring the line between aspects of Hladik’s reality versus the constructs of his mind, Borges permits the reader to question the presence of God in Hladik’s execution and introduces the idea that time is relative to how an individual’s mind perceives it.

In the last short story “Circular Ruins,” Borges again uses dreams to introduce the reader to a new way of perceiving the world. In this story, the protagonist would dream each individual part of a boy until he would have finally engineered a son using his own imagination. However, the irony lies herein that the creator realizes at the end of the story he too “was but appearance, that another man was dreaming him” (100). The protagonist was nothing but a dream of another dreamer like his son was the dream of himself.

Through “The Circular Ruins,” Borges asserts that the individual’s perception of reality might simply be an elaborate illusion. The protagonist did not realize he himself was a dream until the end of the story when he steps into the flames. Similarly, Borges questions the credibility of the reader’s own existence. Borges uses the circular ruins where the protagonist dreams his son – and where his son might possibly dream his own creation – as a symbol to represent the infinite loop of dreams.

Additionally, because a circle does not have a definite beginning or end, it signifies the dreams itself have an ambiguous beginning and an indefinite end. In essence, the ambiguity within this story lies in that the reader is left to question the original dreamer, had there even been an original. The individual is left to ponder whether the circular ruins are to constitute reality or whether the dreamer is simply experiencing a dream within a dream, another popular style of Borges as delineated within “The Secret Miracle. Overall, Borges opens up a door of possibilities that lead to a string of unanswerable questions left to the reader’s interpretation. In general, Borges uses dreams, imagination, and constructs of the mind to brilliantly incorporate ambiguity into his short stories and thereby allow his readers to ponder new thoughts and ideas. In “The South”, the readers are left to question whether Dahlmann’s journey back to the South had actually taken place or whether it was only a dream in which he portrays his desire to want to die a heroic death like his ancestors.

Within “The Secret Miracle”, Borges weaves aspects from Hladik’s own imagination into his reality such as the possible presence of God. This in turn allows the reader to question the distinction between factors of Hladik’s real world versus that in his mind. Finally, in “The Circular Ruins,” the ending leaves the reader to question whether dreams constitute a reality of its own or whether these dreams had an original dreamer who was simply dreaming within a dream, a popular motif in other Borges stories.

When Borges blurs the line between reality and fiction, he establishes ambiguity and often induces his reader to question the credibility of their own reality. Through this ambiguity, Borges asserts that there is no clear or correct way to understand his short stories and that each story is open to the individual’s own interpretation. As a result, the short stories are open to a wide range of interpretations. Through these multiple interpretations, the reader opens him or herself up to new ways of perceiving the world.

Human nature continues to evolve and change over time. But how do we define human nature? Human nature is how we define ourselves, such as how we feel and what we think about certain things. Kafka and Borges focus on human nature of the character. It can change quickly or steady. Both authors had religion, Christianity, involved in their stories. Each of their characters focuses on their personal views of the world. In “Before the Law”, this story is vague and can have different meanings. It can be looking for higher power, religion, or government. I believe this story is about religion and life lessons. It’s about a man who asked the gatekeeper for entry through the door to the Law. The Law could be heaven or a sacred place. The man sacrificed everything to gain access to the Law so much so that he would consider breaking rules to get through the gate which was against his human nature.

Therefore, the man waited anxiously for years to have the courage to go the gatekeeper and say he is ready. Before the man could enter, the gatekeeper quoted, “No one but you could have been admitted here, since this entrance was meant for you alone. Now I am going to shut it.” (Kafka, pg. 303) But when I finished reading, I was on the edge of my seat thinking did he die? Thoughts raced through my mind and my heart was left pounding with fear knowing what the ending could possibly be. This was one of my favorite stories I read in class. In “Deutsches Requiem”, this story goes into more detail about a man reflecting about his past and how he has been arrested. This is about a prisoner who spoke to his cell mates on how he ended up in jail. He starts off his story by quoting “As for me, I will be executed as a torturer and murder.” Zur Linde mentioned change and quoted, “demanded a new kind of man.” But his character development was very quick.

Most stories I read the character development is steady. When his brother was killed in battle, this particular moment changed his destiny. He decided to give up Christianity to follow in his brother’s footsteps. He has been promoted as a Nazi officer and followed in Hitler’s evil ways. Even though, I feel that he changed his human nature because he has family members who fought and he felt he had to uphold the honor. He felt pressured even though deep down this wasn’t who he was and these weren’t the beliefs he upheld. He struggled to conform for his family or he felt he wouldn’t hold the family honor. This was the turning point that changed his perspective on human nature. As the story continued, his new selftransformed and turned to Nazism. Zur Linde quoted, “Essentially, Nazism is an act of morality, a purging of corrupted humanity, to dress him anew.” (Borges, pg. 144) He cared that only evilness shall reign and conquer the world. The cold former Nazi officer showed no emotion. He didn’t show regret or fear. Deep down, he knew what he had done and deserved to die. Zur Linde let his pride get the best of him before the firing squad shoots him as punishment for his crime. Furthermore, both stories had a theme about human nature and religion. In “Deutsches Requiem”, Zur Linde used to follow Christianity. Zur Linde’s human nature and perspective changed dramatically by leaving Christianity and moving to Nazism. The Nazi officer quickly changed his human nature from good to evil. Thus, his perspective changed and his vision how he saw the world is being corrupted instead of peace. “Before the Law” mentioned the gate could be the higher power or Heaven. But “Before the Law” does mention how the person had to sacrifice his pride and corrupt his human nature possibly to get through the gate. He lost a part of himself just for a chance to get through the gate.

In conclusion, Kafka and Borges write about human nature and including religion in their character development. The struggle that both of the characters in each story had to change and sacrificed everything to accomplish their goal regardless of how each felt deep inside. Neither was true to themselves or their beliefs. When I read these stories it really got my attention and made me think how significant and misleading human nature can be when someone is not true to themselves and puts their immediate needs and wants over the long-term goal. This can lead to devastating consequences. But in the end, this isn’t worth the trouble. It is so much more difficult to look at the big picture and do what is right for yourself instead of what other people think you should do. Unfortunately, human nature always looks for the easy way.

Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges is best known for his use of extensive diction and magical realism in his short stories. He began writing magical realism after suffering a head wound in 1938. In his stories he includes events from his life, making them somewhat autobiographical and sometimes the characters in the story are actually Borges himself. Readers can recognize this based on the events that occur in the story compared to events that occurred in Borges’ life. Borges often uses the same symbols and metaphors, such as labyrinths and time, to get his ideas across to readers. These literary devices can be identified in all of his short stories.

Magical realism stories are stories that seem realistic but at some point, usually in the end, consist of a drastic change. With Borges’ stories, this change is usually a plot twist that oftentimes leaves readers shocked or even confused. His complex diction, use of metaphors and symbols, and plot twists can leave readers having to re-read his stories for a better understanding. Borges uses mirrors as a metaphor in many of his works to describe his idea of infinity. One example of this is in the story “The Library of Babel” where in each hexagonal-shaped room there is a mirror. When a character looks into a mirror, they see replicas of their surroundings. The surroundings consist of, “… five bookshelves; each bookshelf holds thirty-two books identical in format; each book contains four hundred ten pages; each page, forty lines; each line, approximately eighty black letters. There are also letters on the front cover of each book”. The fact that all of the books and rooms are identical to each other and the mirrors create more of the surroundings, makes the setting seem infinite to not only the characters but the readers.

Although, mirrors are not always used for infinity. In “Tlön, Uqar, Orbis Tertius,” Hronir is used in the fictional place of Tlön to create infinity. The narrator in the story states, “Two persons look for a pencil; the first finds it and says nothing; the second finds a second pencil, no less real, but closer to his expectations. These secondary objects are called hronir”. Hronir are objects that can replicate themselves if they were to be lost or destroyed. If the already replicated object were to be lost or destroyed, it can also replicate itself, creating an infinite cycle of replication. Labyrinths are also widely used in Borges’ stories. Readers can find this symbol again in “The Library of Babel.” The many rooms and stories of books in the library create the labyrinth. At the same time, readers can perceive them as different or infinite universes. The most acknowledged story involving labyrinths is “The Garden of Forking Paths.” The main character in this story is taken to a labyrinth called “The Garden of Forking Paths” and is taught about its creator and the meaning behind it. Borges uses this labyrinth concept as a way to explain that in each universe there are multiple/different endings; infinite endings as they relate to time. The character Stephen Albert describes the labyrinth by saying, “A labyrinth of symbols,” he corrected. “An invisible labyrinth of time”. Albert continues with: “The Garden of Forking Paths is an incomplete, but not false, image of the universe as Ts’ui Pên conceived it. In contrast to Newton and Schopenhauer, your ancestor did not believe in a uniform, absolute time. He believed in an infinite series of times, in a growing, dizzying net of divergent, convergent and parallel times”. Through this piece of evidence, it is clear that these are also the beliefs of Borges himself. In the story “Death and the Compass” the antagonist, Scharlach, commits three murders. In the end of the story, it is revealed that Scharlach committed those murders in order to lure the detective to him and kill him.

To ensure the plan, the murders are done at specific locations which, when looking on a map, create a labyrinth. When he meets with the detective he tells him, “In your labyrinth there are three lines too many… I know of a Greek labyrinth which is a single straight line” and ‘The next time I kill you,’ said Scharlach, ‘I promise you the labyrinth made of the single straight line which is invisible and everlasting.’ In the last part Scharlach mentions that the next labyrinth will be infinite.

All of these short stories correspond to the idea of infinity but each through a different approach, making them fun and interesting to read for many people. What readers can understand from Borges’ message in these stories is that there are infinite endings in different universes, all with different times. Time is a metaphor used most often in Borges’ pieces of writing. Another major example of this is in the short story “The Other.” Readers can identify the magical realism in the story as well as time used as a metaphor. In this story, an older version of Borges meets with a younger version. The younger Borges does not believe he is meeting with an older version of himself. The older Borges is able to get the younger one to believe that their meeting is a real event by stating a line of poetry from French writer, Victor Hugo, about an infinite universe. The line states, “L’hydre-univers tordant son corps écaillé d’astre.” which translates to “The hydra-universe twisting his scaly body of stars.” in English. Not only is time used but the ideas of infinity and universes are seen once again. Their meeting can also be interpreted as a symbol of infinity because in the last line of the story, the older Borges concludes with: “The other man dreamed me, but did not dream me rigorously – he dreamed.” This explains that the younger Borges dreamed the encounter with the older one but for the older Borges, the encounter was real. Since the younger Borges dreamed it, he will not remember the encounter when he is older, just like the older Borges did not recall meeting himself, although he knew it was real.

This event will happen again when the younger Borges becomes older and the cycle will continue. A symbol not so common for Borges appears in his short story “The South.” The main character, Dahlmann, works at a library and suffers a head wound, automatically making this story somewhat autobiographical of Borges’ life. In a cafe near the train station, Dahlmann realizes, “… there was an enormous cat which allowed itself to be caressed as if it were a disdainful divinity”. The narrator goes on to describe: “… and thought, as he smoothed the cat’s black coat, that this contact was an illusion and that the two beings, man and cat, were as good as separated by a glass, for man lives in time, in succession, while the magical animal lives in the present, in the eternity of the instant.” Readers might not realize this right away but the cat is actually the symbol of infinite time in this short story. According to the website spritanimal.info, cats are symbols for many different things. However, cat symbolism, mostly seen in the Ancient Egyptian culture, can represent wisdom, grace, but also infinity. The common saying “cats have nine lives” shows that it is well known throughout the world that these animals are perceived and associated with infinity.

Borges’ stories are enjoyed by people around the world and are taught in many schools. Throughout all of Borges’ short stories, a lot of the same symbols and metaphors can be seen. Many of them coincide with each other, like labyrinths, infinity, and time, to create a bigger concept/message in which Borges attempts to convey.