Departure, Initiation, and Return
English 1302
October 11, 2012
Departure, Initiation, and Return in Jorge Luis Borges' “The Garden of Forking Paths”
At first glance, Jorge Luis Borges' short story, “The Garden of Forking Paths,” tells the tale of a Chinese agent for the Germans against the English during the first World War. In this short story, Yu Tsun (the spy) learns that a fellow agent has been eliminated. This means that he will undoubtedly be the next to be arrested and killed. This will probably happen before the end of the day. Yu Tsun has a mission that must be performed: send the name of the city containing the English air base to Berlin without the message being intercepted before he is captured. Yu Tsun, although a flawed hero, is the story's hero nonetheless, and the story outlines his attempt to fulfill his mission. Borges' short story follows a mythological structure using Joseph Campbell's three main stages of the hero's journey: departure, initiation, and return. Along the way, Yu Tsun, quite by accident, discovers a tale of multiple paths, labyrinths both physical and metaphorical. He learns of the concept of how multiple choices can lead to multiple realities. Even so, at the end, it appears that his fate has already been determined, and he has reached the last fork in his life's path. Jorge Luis Borges uses this simple wartime spy story as a frame to tell a tale of philosophy, multiple worlds, and inescapable destiny. The story's narrative begins with what turns out to be a spy's confessional. The surface story tells of his mission and how he seeks to accomplish it in the face of obstacles. A mythological analysis says that the story has a hero's departure. It also says that the story has a call to adventure or “call to some high historical undertaking” (Campbell 51), a brief refusal of the call, a starting point when the call is accepted, and guides on the journey's path . The story goes on as the spy departs for another location to carry out his mission.
October 11, 2012
Departure, Initiation, and Return in Jorge Luis Borges' “The Garden of Forking Paths”
At first glance, Jorge Luis Borges' short story, “The Garden of Forking Paths,” tells the tale of a Chinese agent for the Germans against the English during the first World War. In this short story, Yu Tsun (the spy) learns that a fellow agent has been eliminated. This means that he will undoubtedly be the next to be arrested and killed. This will probably happen before the end of the day. Yu Tsun has a mission that must be performed: send the name of the city containing the English air base to Berlin without the message being intercepted before he is captured. Yu Tsun, although a flawed hero, is the story's hero nonetheless, and the story outlines his attempt to fulfill his mission. Borges' short story follows a mythological structure using Joseph Campbell's three main stages of the hero's journey: departure, initiation, and return. Along the way, Yu Tsun, quite by accident, discovers a tale of multiple paths, labyrinths both physical and metaphorical. He learns of the concept of how multiple choices can lead to multiple realities. Even so, at the end, it appears that his fate has already been determined, and he has reached the last fork in his life's path. Jorge Luis Borges uses this simple wartime spy story as a frame to tell a tale of philosophy, multiple worlds, and inescapable destiny. The story's narrative begins with what turns out to be a spy's confessional. The surface story tells of his mission and how he seeks to accomplish it in the face of obstacles. A mythological analysis says that the story has a hero's departure. It also says that the story has a call to adventure or “call to some high historical undertaking” (Campbell 51), a brief refusal of the call, a starting point when the call is accepted, and guides on the journey's path . The story goes on as the spy departs for another location to carry out his mission.
Cited: Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 263-269 Campbell, Joseph Princeton University Press, 1968. “Daily Mirror Headlines: The Battle of the Somme, Published 31 July 1916.” BBC. 2002. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 January 2008. . “Daily Mirror Headlines: The Battle of the Somme, Published 31 July 1916.” BBC. 2002. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 January 2008. . Fishburn, Evelyn. "Traces of the Thousand and One Nights in Borges." Variaciones Borges 17 (2004): 143-58. Literature Resource Center. Midland College. 7 January 2008. Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. Overview of "The Garden of Forking Paths," Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Vol. 1, The Gale Group, 2000. Literature Resource Center. Midland College. 7 January 2008. Ostergard, Svend. "The Unconscious of Representation ( 'Death and the Compass ')," in Variaciones Borges, J. L. Borges Center for Studies & Documentation. January, 1996, pp. 101-12. Literature Resource Center. Midland College. 7 January 2008. Group, 2000.