Throughout the course of humanity, the search for a happy and content life has been a universal goal. Some people on this Earth believe that the source of this contentment can come from material goods while others find it in spending time with loved ones. No matter where it comes from, most people on this planet would find joy in living a content life. However, some people handle the concept of contentment in different ways, some individuals far more accepting of life than others. This concept is present in media of novels of all sorts, especially in The Library of Babel and Foe. The theme of searching for contentment is present in both Borges’s The Library of Babel and in Coetzee’s Foe. Though both authors utilize this theme to develop their
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The narrator and the other “librarians” live in the structure of the Library has been described as “unending” and that its “circumference is inaccessible” (Borges 52). These quotes crafted by Borges display the vast nature of the library which has been the source of mystery for all of the inhabitants of these seemingly infinite hexagonal shaped rooms. In the beginning of this short narrative, Borges displays through the narrator the curious nature of the Library residents and their burning desire to search beyond what is in plain sight. The main narrator, who goes unnamed throughout this story, tells about his experiences with examination through the quote: “Like all men of the Library, I have traveled in my youth; I have wandered in search of a book, perhaps the catalogue of catalogues…” (Borges 52). This short passage displays not only the curious nature of the main character, but of all the residents of the Library. The Library has become a center of mystery for the main narrator and the other members of this seemingly unending catacomb of books. At one point, the Library members believed that in this infinite crypt of books that “there was no personal or world problem whose eloquent solution did not exist in some hexagon” (Borges 55). This selection that displays the infinite nature of the …show more content…
A rescued castaway, Susan Barton, dreams of returning to civilization through the publication of her tale of the island and those who lived on it. She chooses to place her story in the hands of Foe, an author that has brought many other tales and stories to publication. Her faith that her story can return herself to a normal life while boosting the writing career of Foe is evident when she tells the author that her story is “the good fortune we are always hoping for” (Coetzee 48). Though Susan has this boost of confidence in the capabilities of her tale on the island, she, like the members of Borges’s Library, goes searching more and more for her own contentment when a mystery appears. Coetzee crafts a situation in which Foe, Susan’s saving grace and ticket to a normal life, disappears, leaving Barton in a shroud of confusion and mystery. As time passes and Barton grows more anxious, Coetzee displays Barton’s desire to search for Foe and, by extension, her own way back to normalcy, through the a letter to the missing Foe in which she asks “Can you not press on with our writing, Mr. Foe, so that Friday can speedily be returned to Africa and I liberated from this drab existence I lead” (63). Her constant search for contentment in a normal life and control of her own existence is evident in this passage. In the end, Coetzee displays the theme of searching for contentment and joy
The narrator and the other “librarians” live in the structure of the Library has been described as “unending” and that its “circumference is inaccessible” (Borges 52). These quotes crafted by Borges display the vast nature of the library which has been the source of mystery for all of the inhabitants of these seemingly infinite hexagonal shaped rooms. In the beginning of this short narrative, Borges displays through the narrator the curious nature of the Library residents and their burning desire to search beyond what is in plain sight. The main narrator, who goes unnamed throughout this story, tells about his experiences with examination through the quote: “Like all men of the Library, I have traveled in my youth; I have wandered in search of a book, perhaps the catalogue of catalogues…” (Borges 52). This short passage displays not only the curious nature of the main character, but of all the residents of the Library. The Library has become a center of mystery for the main narrator and the other members of this seemingly unending catacomb of books. At one point, the Library members believed that in this infinite crypt of books that “there was no personal or world problem whose eloquent solution did not exist in some hexagon” (Borges 55). This selection that displays the infinite nature of the …show more content…
A rescued castaway, Susan Barton, dreams of returning to civilization through the publication of her tale of the island and those who lived on it. She chooses to place her story in the hands of Foe, an author that has brought many other tales and stories to publication. Her faith that her story can return herself to a normal life while boosting the writing career of Foe is evident when she tells the author that her story is “the good fortune we are always hoping for” (Coetzee 48). Though Susan has this boost of confidence in the capabilities of her tale on the island, she, like the members of Borges’s Library, goes searching more and more for her own contentment when a mystery appears. Coetzee crafts a situation in which Foe, Susan’s saving grace and ticket to a normal life, disappears, leaving Barton in a shroud of confusion and mystery. As time passes and Barton grows more anxious, Coetzee displays Barton’s desire to search for Foe and, by extension, her own way back to normalcy, through the a letter to the missing Foe in which she asks “Can you not press on with our writing, Mr. Foe, so that Friday can speedily be returned to Africa and I liberated from this drab existence I lead” (63). Her constant search for contentment in a normal life and control of her own existence is evident in this passage. In the end, Coetzee displays the theme of searching for contentment and joy