The Gospel According To Mark Jorge Louis Borges Summary

In the short story, The Gospel According to Mark, author Jorge Louis Borges puts his own individual twist on a story, or shall I say stories, that are as old as time - the Great Flood and the Crucifixion of Jesus. In this work, Borges uses biblical allusions, character types, and sex to retell an age-old tale.
From the onset of the story, it is clear that Borges is intent on depicting the main character and protagonist, Espinosa, as a holy figure. He describes Espinosa as having “unlimited kindness” and a “capacity for public speaking” - the first two hints indicating that the reader is figuratively in the presence of a higher being, one who greatly symbolizes that of Jesus. Borges uses a significant chunk of the story developing Espinosa in …show more content…
Referring back to Thomas Foster’s’ How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster stated that stories that included characters that symbolized Jesus usually included names that had biblical meaning, as well - this rule applies to this story. Espinosa is a form of the word “Espina,” which means thorn. This supplements the development of Espinosa’s character and foreshadows coming events by alluding to the crown of thorns that is worn by Jesus during his crucifixion. However, Borges does not stop there with the allusions. Once Espinosa’s cousin goes on a business trip leaving him with the foremen and his family, a great rain begins to fall causing the river to overflow its banks and flood the city. Some of the ranch animals drown as consequence while some are saved. The flood in the story draws many parallels the Biblical tale of the Great Flood where Noah and his family, having been issued a warning by God of an all-consuming flood, save two of each animal on the ark. The story of the Great Flood and Noah’s Ark symbolizes renewal and recreation which is consistent with the point at which the readers are at within the story. At this point we see that Espinosa has undergone a slight change. His relationship with the foremen and his family is slowly …show more content…
The most obvious is the previously discussed Espinosa and his “type” as a Christ-like figure. However, we also see other character types that come from the Bible. The foreman's daughter represents Judas in this story. When she beds with Espinosa, it is not simply an act of intimacy. It is, however, very similar to the Judas kiss, where Judas kisses Jesus in order to expose his identity to the Roman soldiers which led to his crucifixion. This leads to the next point where the foremen and his son, along with the daugher, are typed as the Roman soldiers. Just as it happened in the Bible, the trio “mocked at him, spat on him, and shoved him” just as the Roman soldiers had done to Jesus. This indicates a major shift in character, however, because before this, we view the family of three as loyal followers of Espinosa - a symbolic representation of Jesus’ disciples. This shift in character development reveals a theme of betrayal and deception. Foster discusses finding character types in chapter 6. Here he clues us in on the fact that there is always, and has always, only been one story. Texts borrow and add elements to each other as a way of communicating, which is intertextuality. These elements include characters. We see repeats of character types all the time, and it is no different with this story. They serve to create a connection between texts and also serve to help readers identify with characters within the story,