Analyzing Jorge Louis Borges

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Analyzing Jorge Louis Borges`
The House of Asterion, The Garden of Forking Paths and Death and Compass
Well travelled and highly erudite, Jorge Louis Borges has carved for himself a unique genre of literature. The term "Borgesian" has been designated as a concept to describe his work, in the same way as the adjectives Kafkaesque, and Sartrean.
Borges wrote only short essays and narratives, but his works are not an easy read. Often, understanding of his message comes after the second or third reading. It seems as if each of his works were designed as a piece to contemplate on. In his review of Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, ADDIN Mendeley Citation{b0d9cf68-dc88-4048-b2d0-46acd4d10ad2} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/~corbetre/personal/reading/borges-labyrinths.html", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "12", "8" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Corbett", "given" : "Bob" } ], "container-title" : "Webster University", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2003" ] ] }, "title" : "Review of Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=b0d9cf68-dc88-4048-b2d0-46acd4d10ad2" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "Bob Corbett", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Corbett)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } Bob Corbett said: "These stories, essays and parables are not about the existential world of everydayness. This is a volume of metaphysics, time, space, infinity, idealism…[a]conviction that the world is nearly impossible to know, a complex, and puzzling place". His knowledge of world literature has allowed him to use different genres and give it his unique touch. He used different cultural allusions in much of his work, hence enabling him to appeal to an international audience. His international literary metaphor was cultivated by his love for reading, has made Borges a major influenced many new writers including John Barth, John Gardner and Robert Coover. Even world-renowned French philosopher and social theorist ADDIN Mendeley Citation{6e018e5a-4a63-4d76-9ab6-6c7ce1c56062} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Foucault", "given" : "Michel" } ], "edition" : "Routledge ", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2002" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Taylor \u0026 Francis Group", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "The order of things: an archaeology of the human sciences", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=6e018e5a-4a63-4d76-9ab6-6c7ce1c56062" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "Michel Foucault", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Foucault)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } Michel Foucault cites a passage in Borges` work as inspiration for his book ADDIN Mendeley Citation{6e018e5a-4a63-4d76-9ab6-6c7ce1c56062} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Foucault", "given" : "Michel" } ], "edition" : "Routledge ", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2002" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Taylor \u0026 Francis Group", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "The order of things: an archaeology of the human sciences", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=6e018e5a-4a63-4d76-9ab6-6c7ce1c56062" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(xvi)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Foucault)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (xvi), The Order of Things: An Archeology of the Human Sciences .
Such Borgean characteristics are found in the three shot stories which are subject of this analysis:
Using metaphor and imagery, The House of Asterion, The Garden of Forking Paths and Death and Compass, tries to disentangle the existence of man, the illusion of man`s capacity for reason, the circular nature of time, and the idea that all people are one. In reading Borges` work, it is important to realize that his stories are not for entertainment purposes. In fact, one of the literary criticisms of his works is that, they are often incomplete. Because Borges writes only in proses and short narratives, he does not care to expound on the details and will often leave the reader asking questions. Categorized as "postmodern literature", Borges` helps the reader distance himself from life situations so that the he is prompted to reflect on the creative process, his life and his understanding of his nature as a human being.
The House of Asterion is a form of monologue by Asterion. The story begins with Asterion`s denial of his arrogance, misanthropy and madness. He then goes on to describe his house in greater detail - its infinite number of rooms and its bare walls. Asterion then denies that he is a prisoner, instead, he says, he does not wish to go out because he has become afraid of the common people. He says he is better than these commoners and should not be "confused with the populace" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Borges", "given" : "Jorge Louis" } ], "edition" : "2nd", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1964" ] ] }, "publisher" : "New Directions Publishing Corporation", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Borges 139)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Borges)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Borges 139). He talks about how he entertains himself inside his home, and stresses that he only imagined his games. He describes how the other Asterion has visited him in his house. He describes how his house resembles the infinite universe, and goes on to suggest that perhaps he created the world but does not remember about it.
In his solitude, Asterion knew that his "redeemer" will come to free him in the same way that delivered nine men who enter his house every nine years, from evil. He waited eagerly for his moment. The reader does not get a clue on who Asterion was until the end of the story: "`Would you believe it Ariadne?`, said Theseus. ‘The Minotaur scarcely defended himself`" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Borges", "given" : "Jorge Louis" } ], "edition" : "2nd", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1964" ] ] }, "publisher" : "New Directions Publishing Corporation", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Borges 140)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Borges)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Borges 140). Through this last line, it is revealed that Asterion is the Minotaur and his home, the labyrinth.
There are many ways to understand this story. For one, the House of Asterion, may be similar to the ivory tower - it is a structure put up by humans so as to set them apart from other humans and other creations of nature. It is a form of arrogance which prevents man from realizing his own monstrosities. At the same time, the house is a labyrinth. It confounds anyone who enters it. It is like life - one can get lost along the way. Many will meet a monster, some may escape (with a lot of bruises and trauma), while others may not survive at all. But there are only a few Theseus who will be able to go out with their full faculties still intact.
ADDIN Mendeley Citation{453d4a54-bb67-4364-ac2f-a24f52dbe46c} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Bennett", "given" : "Maurice J." } ], "container-title" : "Explicator", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "3", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1992" ] ] }, "title" : "Borges's 'The House of Asterion", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "50" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=453d4a54-bb67-4364-ac2f-a24f52dbe46c" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "Maurice Bennett", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Bennett)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } Maurice Bennett says: "The idea of a house built so that people could get lost in it is perhaps more unusual than that of a man with a bull`s head, but both ideas go well together and the image of the labyrinth fits with the image of the Minotaur". The minotaur is part animal, part human, part divine, which is also attributed to man. Man has the capability to act with reason, and offer blessings to other men and nature`s creation. But when his anima nature is not tempered, he can also cause the destruction of the world he has created.
Man, like the minotaur, has made himself the custodian of the world. After all, he is the only creation that can walk, talk and think, hence, it makes sense that he is above all the other creations. He is unique, and whatever he did in his life, was because it was his choice. And yet through his choice, he has created wars among his neighbors, he has degraded forests and left no sustainable environment for the other creatures of nature. But man does not see his part in this destruction, in the same way that Asterion claims that he is not a prisoner of his house, so does man believes that he is not a prisoner of his own self importance. Man`s reasoning has become limited by his subjectivity and he is trapped in his skewed belief. Man claims that he is fully aware when is just making believe. Of course, there remains a question to this: if Asterion did not know that he can never get out of the labyrinth, how does man know when he is just fooling himself?
Here Borges gives a fool-proof way for man to understand his situation. Asterion was not interested in knowledge, he never bothered to learn his letters. According to him, "[these] bothersome and trivial details have no place in my spirit, which is prepared for all that is vast and grand" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Borges", "given" : "Jorge Louis" } ], "edition" : "2nd", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1964" ] ] }, "publisher" : "New Directions Publishing Corporation", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Borges 139)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Borges)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Borges 139). Man assumes that he is being prepared to do something great in life, but he cannot continue living like the Minotaur. In order for man to understand his real nature, he must become learned, he must learn to read and write, and be interested in the different kinds of knowledge which will be passed on by one man to another. Perhaps this can be done through education, or maybe through reading alone. Whatever the methods were, the message of The House of Asterion is that people should not be content on speculation, they should actively seek for knowledge.
The Minotaur`s questions: "What will my redeemer be like? Will he be a bull or a man? Will he perhaps be a bull with the face of a man? Or will he be like me?" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Borges", "given" : "Jorge Louis" } ], "edition" : "2nd", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1964" ] ] }, "publisher" : "New Directions Publishing Corporation", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=e21ea32e-184a-4bf1-9a7f-5fd2b7e1c8ed" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Borges 140)", "previouslyFormatted...