Order, Memory, and Anxiety in Borges' Fiction
The fundamental questions of how and why we read have an infinitude of answers, none of which entirely 'do the job', simply because they bear too closely upon the automatic, (and therefore, to us, secret) processes of the mind; the act of reading is too closely related to the act of living in the world for us to comprehend definitively. There are few writers who understand and exploit this primal link more persistently than Jorge Luis Borges. One of the ways in which he forces us to examine the parallels between reading and existing (I use the word 'force' because it is not always a pleasant confrontation) is through the thematic use of memory.
I. Total Recall
"It is because I forget that I read."
-Roland Barthes, S/Z
One of the most masterful treatments of the memory theme is in "Funes the Memorious", the brilliantly, (and somewhat absurdly), touching story of a man who cannot live under the strain of his natural and inescapable ability to remember everything perfectly.
The story begins with the words "I recall", and immediately we are plunged into the realm of memory-we understand that what we are about to read is a semblance of a reminisence. Jon Stewart calls attention to the importance of the repetition of this verb in the opening paragraphs of the story: "The continual use of this verb clearly foreshadows the most important element of the character of Funes-his prodigious mnemonic powers: but there is more to it than this. Borges continually uses the same verb and with it brings together a number of scattered and seemingly chaotic memories that he has of Funes. The point of this repetition is to underscore his own impoverished memory of Funes." (p.74) But Stewart neglects to take this point to its logical and important conclusion; the narrator's 'impoverished memory' is not merely a foreshadowing of Funes' infinitely rich one-it comes to be, in fact, the necessary circumstance, and the subject of the story.
Borges tells us that the story grew out of his own bouts of insomnia: "I remember that I used to lie down and try to forget everything, and that led me, inevitably, to remember everything. I imagined the books on the shelves, the clothes on the chair, and even my own body on the bed... and so, since I could not erase memory, I kept thinking of those things, and also thinking: if only I could forget, I would certainly be able to sleep.
For a character to be an epic hero, he must possess four characteristics. These four characteristics include the following: (1) he must be high born, (2) the hero must have human weaknesses, (3) he must be brave,and 4) he must be clever. In The Odyssey, Homer’s character Odysseus was an epic hero because he possessed all four of the characteristics.
Odysseus is a hero because he acts courageously while facing the many challenges he encounters. Odysseus’s shows great bravery when he engages in physical challenges. Odysseus daringly fights against the suitors, while significantly outnumbered: “For I must tell you this is no affair / of ten or even twice ten men, but scores, throngs of them” (XVI, 291 – 293). Even though Odysseus is facing hundreds of men, his bravery keeps him confident that he can win the battle. Odysseus must use his physical strength when Poseidon punishes him with turbulent waves: “Odysseus’s knees grew slack, his heart / sickened, and he said within himself / Rag of man that I am, is this the end of me?” (V, 307 – 309). Odysseus is exhausted from the torrential sea, yet refuses to give up because of enormous courage and his unwillingness to surrender. Odysseus must also cope with emotional challenges throughout his journey. His emotions are tested when he ventures to the underworld, Hades, and must confront his greatest fear, death: “From every side they came and sought the pit / with rustling cries; and I grew sick with fear. / But presently I gave command to my officers” (XI, 45 -47). Although Odysseus is deeply fearful when he comes face to face with the dead, his mental f...
Also the fact that it is a memory and he is talking about himself as a
Harriet Tubman was born in the year 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her parents were Harriet Green and Ben Ross. She is known by the name Harriet Tubman, but her real name was Araminta Ross. She had ten brothers and sisters who helped her with her work. Her family's nickname for her, as said by Elish, was “Minta” (9). She was born into a slave family which meant one thing: she was going to have a difficult life. She was abused and beaten by hard-hearted white people even when she was little. Her most difficult injury to overcome happened when she was only thirteen. A slave started to escape, so her master picked up a brick and threw it at him. Harriet stepped in front of the brick, trying to give the slave a chance to escape, and, in doing so, was hit in the head, knocking her out. Because of this injury, she had seizures and extremely painful headaches her entire life. When she was old enough, she was rented out to the Cook family. They disregarded her as a person or as an equal, making her sleep and share food with the dogs. The Cooks did not have enough money to keep her, so they gave her back. She was then rented to a woman named Miss Susan, who beat her mercilessly with a whip over the tiniest mistake. When she got the chance, she ran away from her, but ended up almost starving. She was returned to the plantation and started to work in the fields, gathering strength. Her father, hearing about her almost ...
This just shows how unreliable memory is, and even then it is one of the most important things in our lives, and it is certainly important in the book, in a way is hard to understand sometimes, because memory is such a complex thing, that humans are still making studies on.
Odysseus’ has hubris and excessive pride in himself, the gods he believes in, and his accomplishments, which hold him back and do not allow him to reach hero potential. The pride that Odysseus has in his name is visible throughout his entire tale he is telling to the Phaiakians and King Alkinoos. Starting the story of his journey, Odysseus already begins to display his hubris when he explains to his hosts who he is and where he hails from. After stating that he is the son of King Laertes of Ithaka, Odysseus shares that, “Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim” (IX, 21-23). He believes that he is so well known that the Phaiakians should know him from t...
A historic phenomenon known as the Underground Railroad left an immense impact on the history of slaves and abolitionists. A notorious woman by the name of Harriet Tubman had a paramount role in this audacious and venturesome event. She was even nicknamed Moses from the Bible! Multitudinous slaves had followed Harriet, trusting her as their leader to guide them through the routes of the Underground Railroad; therefore, it is suitable and appropriate to say Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary heroine. Her fervid and passionate determination made her capable of traveling to the Underground Railroad. Using that driven motivation, she assisted countless slaves to their freedom.
As stated in many other summaries and analogies of the book, the ethics derived from the book revolve around the topic of choice. Is a person truly moral if their “benevolence” comes from forced conditioning as opposed to their personal choice for compassion? Does programmed decency towards people ultimately possess superiority over a natural psychosis? It can be argued that programmed decency protects the happiness of the main population, but natural psychosis comes from the choice of the individual, and protects their happiness (if the psychosis served as a source of joy for the individual to begin with, not insanity that brings about manic-depression and whatnot). Building the character of Alex to fully express the story and the questions the book will eventually pose doubtlessly requires the use of savage raping, theft, and the vicious, bloody beatings administered to many common people; these portions of A
The first issue that needs to be addressed however is what exactly is memory? “ Without memory we would be servants of the moment, with nothing but our innate reflexes to help us deal with the world. There would be no language, no art, no science, no culture. Civilization itself is the distillation of human memory” (Blakemore 1988). The simple interpretation of Blakemore’s theory on what memory is that a person’s memory is at least one of the most important things in their life and without it civilization itself could not exist.
Memory is a very powerful tool of a person's mind. It can cause a person to relive a positive incident or do the exact opposite, meaning it causes the person to relive a painful moment. Memory is portrayed as a destructive activity in Beloved because it causes many characters to revisit their painful past. There are many incidents throughout the novel that helps to endorse the destructive quality of memory. First of all destructiveness is portrayed through one of the main characters, Sethe. Another character that memory affects negatively is Paul D. A third prisoner of bad memory is Stamp Paid.
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.
Many people thought memory as one thing, either they would remember things or forget about them (AUTHOR, 269, PAGE NUMBER).
The metaphor of memory pertains to many people in the novel. It is especially relevant to Karl and Annonciata’s family during the Rwandan genocide. As the Rwandan genocide progresses, Karl is away from Rwanda and his family. Therefore, Karl and his family experience trauma in differing ways through
Literature has many purposes, and opens doors to unique worlds. Through Literature, we discover ourselves and world time and again.
Memories consist of brief moments in a person’s life, which is stored away in the mind as a picture, movie, smell or even just a sound. If it was visibly to others, it would mean nothing, but to the exact person that experienced the memory, it is a hidden treasure. A treasure chest in the back of one’s head that can be opened, and reveal one’s entire life of beautiful and untouched memories. The question is just, if it is always such a good idea, to dwell at the memories. The short story; “In the National Gallery” by Doris Lessing, is processing the three ages in ones live; past, future and presence, through the eyes of an first person narrator. Through the narrators experience we discover, that living in the past can have great consequences. As one once said, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. ”