Garden Of Forking Paths
"The Garden of Forking Paths" as a Detective Story.
In comparing Jorge Luis Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" to that of the modern day detective story, I will discuss Borges' use of characters, theme, and also his unique use of narration. The combination of these three things puts Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" into a totally different class than the detective stories we have grown up reading and the ones we still read today.
The genre of detective stories was invented by an American author by the name of Edgar Allen Poe in the 1840's. In detective stories, details are very important. A writer of a detective story is obligated to follow certain rules and conventions, including the inclusion of clues and details that will allow the reader to solve the mystery at just the same moment the detective does. Sometimes, the resolution of a detective story requires some small bit of information that the writer withholds from the reader until the very last moment. (Bell)
Most often "The Garden of Forking Paths" is referred to as a detective story. Borges follows the conventional ways of writing a detective story. His protagonist, Yu Tsun, is a spy. He has a secret he must transmit. He has limited time. He offers clues to the reader without revealing the final secret. …show more content…
Although he does not like the Germans, he works for them as a spy. Yu Tsun is also the great-grandson of a Chinese writer, Ts'ui Pen, whose goal it was to write a huge novel and a build a great labyrinth. Yu Tsun visits Dr. Stephen Albert for the sole purpose of murdering him so that his name will appear in the newspaper and reveal to the Germans the name of the city Albert. He discovers that Dr. Albert has studied the work of Ts'ui Pen and understands it. Nevertheless, he carries through with his plan to murder Dr. Albert, thus revealing to the Germans the information they need to bomb the English
In comparing Jorge Luis Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" to that of the modern day detective story, I will discuss Borges' use of characters, theme, and also his unique use of narration. The combination of these three things puts Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" into a totally different class than the detective stories we have grown up reading and the ones we still read today.
The genre of detective stories was invented by an American author by the name of Edgar Allen Poe in the 1840's. In detective stories, details are very important. A writer of a detective story is obligated to follow certain rules and conventions, including the inclusion of clues and details that will allow the reader to solve the mystery at just the same moment the detective does. Sometimes, the resolution of a detective story requires some small bit of information that the writer withholds from the reader until the very last moment. (Bell)
Most often "The Garden of Forking Paths" is referred to as a detective story. Borges follows the conventional ways of writing a detective story. His protagonist, Yu Tsun, is a spy. He has a secret he must transmit. He has limited time. He offers clues to the reader without revealing the final secret. …show more content…
Although he does not like the Germans, he works for them as a spy. Yu Tsun is also the great-grandson of a Chinese writer, Ts'ui Pen, whose goal it was to write a huge novel and a build a great labyrinth. Yu Tsun visits Dr. Stephen Albert for the sole purpose of murdering him so that his name will appear in the newspaper and reveal to the Germans the name of the city Albert. He discovers that Dr. Albert has studied the work of Ts'ui Pen and understands it. Nevertheless, he carries through with his plan to murder Dr. Albert, thus revealing to the Germans the information they need to bomb the English