Symbolism In The South, By Jorge Borges

Symbolism According to the Student Resources in context, “ Symbolism has been around since the early times. During the nineteenth century the symbolist movement spread.” (Student Resources in Context 1). Symbolism in the early times was used as an important source. Instead of just describing an image, they would also try to incorporate feelings. Jorge Borges used a lot of symbolism in his short story “The South”. As soon as the reader starts reading the story, the word “south” plays a very important role in this short story. Borges states “....Dahlmann had managed to save the empty shell of a ranch in the south….” (Borges 1). By this particular statement, Borges gave us a huge hint we will be needing. The character will be traveling to the …show more content…
This person might seem like it is not important but it really is. A gaucho is a person from centuries behind. Borges mentions, “Dahlmann noted with satisfaction the kerchief, the thick poncho, the long chiripa and the colt boots … the gauchos like this no longer existed outside the south.” (Borges 3). This quote helps the reader understand what a gaucho is. However, the gaucho is from the earlier times because he mentioned that they no longer existed. The character was having a flashback and remembering the gauchos from back then. In this case the gaucho also represents death because he shouldn’t be seeing a person from the past in the future. It represented death because it leads to the form in which the character dies. Borges mentions, “..... were to allow himself to be dragged by strangers into some chaotic quarrel” (Borges 3). In this quote, the author lets the reader know that men are wanting to have an argument with the character. Like I mentioned, the gaucho was the last thing the character remembers and memorizes before he dies. At the end of the story, the character ends up dieing in a knife fight he had with the men in the saloon. The picture of the gaucho hold this death apparel by letting the reader understand why it was there. The gaucho gave the character a brave and confident feeling to the way he was going to die. Borges mentions, “As he crossed the threshold, he felt that to die in a knife fight under the open sky, and going forward to the attack, would have been a liberation, a joy, and a festive occasion, on the first night in the sanitarium….’(Borges 4). The character wanted to die in a brave way. He didn’t want to stay in a hospital bed and slow by slow pass away. The gaucho was the last symbol the author used to show the reader how this whole short story was all a