Analysis Of Jorge Luis Borges’ Style Of Writting

Borges is known for using a lot of diction, and he also uses magical realism to tell his stories. After a severe head injury in 1938, he began to write magical realism. Borges’ stories are autobiographical, and often Borges is the character in them. Readers will recognize it by the similarities between the stories and the actual events that Borges experienced. Borges uses many of the same symbols, metaphors, and images, such labyrinths & time, in order to communicate to his readers. All of Borges’ short stories use these literary devices.

Stories that are described as magical realism often start out realistically but then undergo a dramatic change at a later stage. Borges’ stories are often marked by a dramatic plot twist, which can leave readers confused or shocked. It is often necessary to reread the stories of Borges because his complicated diction, symbols, and metaphors are so complex. Borges uses the metaphor of mirrors in his work to express his concept of infinity. In “The Library of Babel”, there are mirrors in every hexagonal-shaped chamber. A character can see a replica of his or her surroundings by looking into a reflective surface. The environment consists of “… 5 bookshelves. Each bookshelf contains 32 books with identical format. Each book has 400 ten pages. The front covers of the books also have letters. Because the books are all identical and the rooms have more mirrors, the reader and characters can see the entire setting. Mirrors aren’t always used to create infinity. Hronir was used to create the illusion of infinity in “Tlon Uqar Orbis Tertius” in place Tlon. The narrator of the story says: “Two characters are searching for a real pencil. One finds it without saying anything; the other finds a more realistic pencil. These secondary objects, or hronir, are what we call them. Hronir objects can duplicate themselves in the event that they are lost or destroyed. If an object that has already been replicated is destroyed or lost, it will also be able to replicate itself. This creates an endless cycle of reproduction.

Borges also uses labyrinths in his stories. This symbol can be found in “The Library of Babel” where the many stories and rooms of the books create the labyrinth. The reader can see them as multiple universes or even different ones. The labyrinth is the focus of “The Garden of Forking Paths,” a story wherein the protagonist is taken into a labyrinth named “The Garden of Forking Paths”, and is educated about its meaning and creator. Borges uses the labyrinth as a means to explain how in every universe, there are infinite/different endings. Stephen Albert corrects himself when he says, “Alabyrintha of symbols”. “An unseeable labyrinth if time”. Albert says: “The Garden of Forking Paths reflects a incomplete but not erroneous image of Ts’ui Pean’s conception of the world. Your ancestor was not a believer in absolute, uniformed time, like Newton or Schopenhauer. He believed there were an infinite number times. It is evident from this evidence that Borges held these same beliefs. The antagonist Scharlach kills three people in the story “Death and the Compass”. The story ends with the revelation that Scharlach killed the detective in order to attract him to him. The plan is to have the murders occur at certain locations on the map that will create a Labyrinth. He tells the detective that there are too many lines in his labyrinth. I have a Greek labyrinth, which is just a single line. All these short stories relate to infinity. But each one is told differently, which makes them more interesting. Borges tells us that in each universe, there is an infinite number of endings.

Borges often uses the metaphor of time in his works. The story “The Other”, which is a short story that uses time as an analogy, is another good example. In this tale, an older Borges meets up with a young version. The younger Borges has no idea that he will be meeting with a version older of himself. The older Borges can convince the younger Borges of their meeting by quoting a line from Victor Hugo’s poem about an endless universe. The line is “L’hydre univers tordant ses corps ecaille de’astre.” This translates into “The hydra universe twisting its scaly bodies of stars.” Infinity and universes, as well as time are used again. The meeting between the two Borges can be seen as a symbol for infinity, because the older Borges says in the final line: “The other person dreamed me but not rigorously, he dreamed” This means that the younger Borges had a dream about the encounter, while the older Borges knew it was real. Since the younger Borges slept through it, he’ll forget it when he becomes older. It will happen again to the younger Borges when he grows up. The South contains a Borges symbol that is less common. Dahlmann suffers from a head wound and works at a public library. Dahlmann discovers “… that there was an enormous feline who allowed itself to caressed like a detestable divinity in a nearby cafe. The narrator then describes: “… He thought, as the man smoothed down the cat’s fur, that it was all an illusion. That the two beings – man and the cat – were no more separated than by a piece of glass. Man lives in time and succession, whereas the magical creature lives in now and eternity. According to spritanimal.info website, cats can represent many things. The Ancient Egyptians used cat symbolism to represent grace, infinity, and wisdom. The phrase “cats with nine lives”, which is widely used, shows that infinity and cats are closely associated.

Borges’ short stories are read by millions of people worldwide and taught in schools. Borges uses many of the same metaphors and symbols in all his short stories. Borges uses many of the same symbols and metaphors throughout his short stories.