The ability to memorize everything is an ability that many people would do anything for. In Jorge Borges's short story, “Funes the Memorious”, there is a character named Ireneo Funes who gains this ability after getting crippled from falling off a horse. Funes, after the incident, was able to specify everything in his world. He refused to generalize or group anything. Also, he became incapable to communicate well because of the specificity of his language. Lastly, he also became unable to let go of many details . In, Funes the Memorious, Jorge Borges shows that having the ability to memorize everything causes the inability to communicate, generalize, and progress in life. By making Funes suffer these consequences, he shows how forgetfulness
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Funes tells the narrator: “We, in a glance, perceive three wine glasses on the table; Funes saw all the shoots, clusters, and grapes of the vine. He remembered the shapes of the clouds in the south at dawn on the 30th of April of 1882”(112). Funes will perceive and memorize about the whole background of anything he sees. This causes Funes to hang on to every memory in the present and the past neglecting the future. He even admits: “at the hour of his death he would scarcely have finished classifying even all the memories of his childhood”(114). He will think about everything in its entirety and spend copious amounts of time on the most simple things. In his own words, he says: “My mind, sir, is like a garbage disposal.” Funes says this because his brain takes in lots and lots of memory like a garbage disposal takes trash A garbage disposal takes in all types of trash not matter the type of trash which is similar to his brain. Funes doesn’t put any memory above another, which means he spends as much time thinking about the most trivial matters as he does the important ones. Forgetting the not as important details, Borges shows, is how humans have gone through their lives. Many humans don’t live in the past, like Funes, because they forget what happens in the past, if it is not important. Humans will grow up, both physically and mentally, because …show more content…
Funes tries to make communication easier by creating more specific terms so others can pinpoint exactly what he refers to. However, his attempts create terms so specific, no one else can understand him. An example of one of his creations is a numerical system where he assigns specific words to specific numbers. “Each word had a particular sign, a species of mark; the last were very complicated. I attempted to explain that this rhapsody of unconnected terms was precisely the contrary of a system of enumeration… Funes did not understand me, or did not wish to understand me”. In his attempts to make every number clearer, he decides to specify and assign a word to the number. However, the way that he goes about this assignment, which is seemingly random, creates the disconnect from Funes to the narrator. The narrator tries to say how this system does not make sense, but Funes doesn’t see why not. Funes does not understand the narrator nor does the narrator understand Funes. Borges, again, reinforces the importance that forgetfulness has to human life. Our generalized terms allow us to more easily understand each other’s language and makes us more able to communicate. One of the biggest reason human societies have progressed is because of the easy communication. People were able to spread ideas and work together. This is not shown in Funes because his memory hinders his
Funes tells the narrator: “We, in a glance, perceive three wine glasses on the table; Funes saw all the shoots, clusters, and grapes of the vine. He remembered the shapes of the clouds in the south at dawn on the 30th of April of 1882”(112). Funes will perceive and memorize about the whole background of anything he sees. This causes Funes to hang on to every memory in the present and the past neglecting the future. He even admits: “at the hour of his death he would scarcely have finished classifying even all the memories of his childhood”(114). He will think about everything in its entirety and spend copious amounts of time on the most simple things. In his own words, he says: “My mind, sir, is like a garbage disposal.” Funes says this because his brain takes in lots and lots of memory like a garbage disposal takes trash A garbage disposal takes in all types of trash not matter the type of trash which is similar to his brain. Funes doesn’t put any memory above another, which means he spends as much time thinking about the most trivial matters as he does the important ones. Forgetting the not as important details, Borges shows, is how humans have gone through their lives. Many humans don’t live in the past, like Funes, because they forget what happens in the past, if it is not important. Humans will grow up, both physically and mentally, because …show more content…
Funes tries to make communication easier by creating more specific terms so others can pinpoint exactly what he refers to. However, his attempts create terms so specific, no one else can understand him. An example of one of his creations is a numerical system where he assigns specific words to specific numbers. “Each word had a particular sign, a species of mark; the last were very complicated. I attempted to explain that this rhapsody of unconnected terms was precisely the contrary of a system of enumeration… Funes did not understand me, or did not wish to understand me”. In his attempts to make every number clearer, he decides to specify and assign a word to the number. However, the way that he goes about this assignment, which is seemingly random, creates the disconnect from Funes to the narrator. The narrator tries to say how this system does not make sense, but Funes doesn’t see why not. Funes does not understand the narrator nor does the narrator understand Funes. Borges, again, reinforces the importance that forgetfulness has to human life. Our generalized terms allow us to more easily understand each other’s language and makes us more able to communicate. One of the biggest reason human societies have progressed is because of the easy communication. People were able to spread ideas and work together. This is not shown in Funes because his memory hinders his