The postulation of various possibilities and outcomes is a type of thought that is so vast and broad that there is no clear end or solution. Through literature, specifically “The Aleph” and “The Garden of Forking Paths”, Borges attempts to explore the different ways to articulate the topic of infinite time and space by placing distinct attention to certain aspects. Though Borges develops his short stories in various ways to bring such fantastical ideas to the center, they arrive at a similar point as the incredible nature of these notions are lost because reality cannot sustain all the infinite possibilities. Through the juxtaposition of the incredulous experience of exploring all points with the reality that can hold only one possibility,
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Through “The Aleph” and “The Garden of Forking Paths,” Borges takes advantage of this platform to thoroughly explore this fantastical idea through two different focuses. In the former, the attention is put on the solitary, human experience of viewing multiple possibilities. The main character, which is Borges himself, is able to witness these possibilities at the Aleph, “the only place on earth where all places are seen from every angle, each standing clear, without any confusion or blending” (Borges 23). By inserting himself as the main character, the emphasis is placed on the personal and momentous experience of viewing the infinite pathways. Further stress is put through the repetition of “I saw [...]” (Borges 27-28), which highlights the single view of the infinite points. Borges, in the “The Garden of Forking Paths,” gives an alternate way of examining the idea of multiple pathways by placing the focus on the infinite possibilities themselves with less of the emphasis on the event of experiencing. This is shown through the first introduction to the idea of the infinite, which is Ts’ui Pen’s book that displays “[...] diverse futures, diverse times which themselves also proliferate and fork” (Borges 26). Borges further exemplifies this in a more subtle way as he includes three different narrators, an unidentified one that frames the story, Yu Tsun who relays nearly all of the story, and an unidentified editor. These three narrators represent the various pathways that could be taken for the telling of the
Through “The Aleph” and “The Garden of Forking Paths,” Borges takes advantage of this platform to thoroughly explore this fantastical idea through two different focuses. In the former, the attention is put on the solitary, human experience of viewing multiple possibilities. The main character, which is Borges himself, is able to witness these possibilities at the Aleph, “the only place on earth where all places are seen from every angle, each standing clear, without any confusion or blending” (Borges 23). By inserting himself as the main character, the emphasis is placed on the personal and momentous experience of viewing the infinite pathways. Further stress is put through the repetition of “I saw [...]” (Borges 27-28), which highlights the single view of the infinite points. Borges, in the “The Garden of Forking Paths,” gives an alternate way of examining the idea of multiple pathways by placing the focus on the infinite possibilities themselves with less of the emphasis on the event of experiencing. This is shown through the first introduction to the idea of the infinite, which is Ts’ui Pen’s book that displays “[...] diverse futures, diverse times which themselves also proliferate and fork” (Borges 26). Borges further exemplifies this in a more subtle way as he includes three different narrators, an unidentified one that frames the story, Yu Tsun who relays nearly all of the story, and an unidentified editor. These three narrators represent the various pathways that could be taken for the telling of the