The Garden Of The Forking Path Essay

642 Words2 Pages

Jorge Borges’ story “The Garden of the Forking Path” is a rewritten passage that traps the reader as we get deeper and deeper into the story. A combination of labyrinth and historical deceit support Borges attempt to combine historical events along with made up details to fill in missing criteria that make the story work. Throughout this story, Borges creates confusion while forcing the reader analyze the text in order to understand the concept of Borgesian labyrinth and establish the theme of fate. The story “The Garden of the Forking Path” has both a meaning the reader can relate to in life as well the meaning of the story. A forking path is a decision people make that either take them through the easy or difficult path in life. At …show more content…

He finds himself working for the Germans as a spy, a job that he finds degrading because he hates the Germans and thinks they are "barbarous". Tsun also has a British friend Stephen Albert, who seemed very modest, gracious, and wise. Yu Tsun spies for the nation he thinks of as barbarous. As Dr. Albert describes the novel to Yu Tsun, it becomes clear that the book is a symbolic narrative for time itself described through a network of mazes. The fear that Madden was so close to him, Tsun could not leave any trace behind, so he needed to betray his friend and killed him shortly after. Betrayal is major them in this story by cause of Yu Tsun becoming a spy and ending the life of a man who was his friend. This story is one giant labyrinth because we have to go deeper into the story to find a reason as to why Yu Tsun supports who he hates and kills a friend. Yu Tsun is stuck trying to prove that a Chinese man is able to perform life or death tasks, like being a German, led by The Chief. Borges labyrinth is the ability to be lost in time. “The Garden of the Forking Path” incorporates so many layers that must be deciphered are similar to the number of forking paths Ts’ui Pen’s includes into his novel as well. This story traps the reader to analyze the actions of characters and what drives

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