Untitled Document

Overview:

"The Garden of Forking Paths", by
Jorge Luis Borges

Author: Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) also known as: B.
Suarez Lynch, B. Lynch Davis, H(onorio) Bustos Domecq,
Honorio Bustos Domecq, F(rancisco) Bustos, F. Bustos, and
Francisco Bustos
Date: 1941

Introduction

First published in 1941, "The Garden of Forking Paths" ("El jardin de
senderos que se bifurcan") marked a turning point in the literary career
of Jorge Luis Borges. In fact, the story helped to establish his reputation
as a fiction writer.

His fiction received immediate critical acclaim in Argentina, even though
he failed to win an important prize the year of the book's release.
Outraged, other Argentinean writers and critics devoted an entire issue
of the prominent literary journal, Sur, to Borges and his work.

As in his other stories, Borges uses fiction as a vehicle to explore
philosophical and literary issues. Consequently, the characters in his
stories seem less developed. In "The Garden of Forking Paths," he uses
the genre of the detective story--a genre that requires clue-gathering
and puzzle-solving--in order to explore the way time branches into an
infinite number of futures.

Widely anthologized, "The Garden of Forking Paths" continues to
generate interest among scholars and students. Its clever plot and
sophisticated philosophical exploration of the nature of time inspires much
critical commentary.

Plot

The story opens with a brief passage from a history of World War I,
presented by an unnamed narrator. The narrator refers to a statement by
a character, Dr. Yu Tsun, made during World War I. The narrator
suggests the first passage is connected to Yu Tsun's statement.

Dr. Yu Tsun, a Chinese national and a former professor of English, reveals
in his statement that he is a German spy. He recounts the events leading
to his arrest, beginning with when he discovers that his contact has been
killed. He knows he must devise a way to get an important message to
the Germans. He looks in a telephone book and finds the name of a man,
Stephen Albert. Yu Tsun thinks Albert will be able to help, although he
does not reveal how he knows this.

Yu Tsun then recounts how he travels to Dr. Albert's house, pursued by
Captain Richard Madden, an Irishman in service to the English. When Yu
Tsun arrives, Dr. Albert mistakes him for a Chinese consul that he knows;
Dr. Albert assumes that the Chinese man is there to view his garden. Yu
Tsun discovers that Dr. Albert is a sinologist, which is a scholar who
studies Chinese culture.

By a strange coincidence, Dr. Albert has created a garden identical to
one created by Yu Tsun's ancestor, Ts'ui Pen, a writer who worked for
thirteen years on a novel called The Garden of Forking Paths; he also
was working on a labyrinth before being murdered by a stranger. In
addition to recreating Ts'ui Pen's garden, Dr. Albert further reveals that
he has been studying the novel. Dr. Albert tells Yu Tsun that he has
solved the riddle of the lost labyrinth, arguing that the novel itself is the
labyrinth.

Furthermore, Dr. Albert tells Yu Tsun that the The Garden of Forking
Paths is "an enormous riddle, or parable, whose theme is time." Albert
explains that the novel reveals that time is not singular, but rather a
"dizzying net of divergent, convergent, and parallel times." Like the
labyrinth, each turn leads to different possible futures. Dr. Albert shows
Yu Tsun a letter written by his ancestor that says, "I leave to the
various futures (not to all) my garden of forking paths." This letter has
provided the key Dr. Albert needs to make sense of both the novel and
the missing labyrinth, that the "forking" referred to by Ts'ui Pen is not a
forking of space, but a forking of time.

Yu Tsun experiences for a moment a sense of himself and Albert in many
other times. Suddenly, he sees Madden approaching. Yu Tsun asks Albert
to let him see once again the letter written by his ancestor. When
Albert's back is turned, Yu Tsun shoots and kills him.

In the last paragraph of his statement (and the story), Yu Tsun is
awaiting his death on the gallows as punishment for his crime. He reveals
that he has shot Albert in order to send a message to the Germans. The
name of the town the Germans needed to bomb was Albert. By shooting
a man of the same name without apparent motive, Yu Tsun was sure
that the information would appear in newspapers the Germans would
read. Because the city was bombed the day before Yu Tsun makes his
statement, he knows that his message had been received.

Characters

Stephen Albert : Dr. Stephen Albert is a noted sinologist, or student of
Chinese language and culture. A former missionary in China, he is a
student of the works of Yu Tsun's ancestor. Indeed, he has solved the
mystery of the missing labyrinth, revealing that the novel of Ts'ui Pen is
the labyrinth itself.

Through Albert, Borges offers a philosophical discussion of the nature of
time. Albert's role in the story is to explain Ts'ui Pen to his great
grandson--and to be murdered, simply by the coincidence that his name
is identical to the name of a town in Belgium.

Richard Madden : Captain Richard Madden is an Irishman who works for
English intelligence. After he kills Yu Tsun's contact, Viktor Runeberg, he
stalks Yu Tsun to prevent him from passing along the information. Yu
Tsun characterizes Madden as "a man accused of laxity and perhaps of
treason." Madden tracks Yu Tsun to Albert's house, and arrests him for
the murder.

Narrator : The narrator's words open the story, directing the reader to a
particular page in a history of World War I. The narrator then introduces
the statement made by a Dr. Yu Tsun.

Yu Tsun : Dr. Yu Tsun is a Chinese professor living in England during
World War I. He is also a German spy. Yu Tsun takes on the role of
narrator of the story as the original narrator provides Yu Tsun's
statement to the reader.

The document is a statement made by Yu Tsun after his murder of Dr.
Stephen Albert. Yu Tsun, in order to get vital information to the Germans
after his contact is killed, describes how he devises a plan to relay the
site of the British artillery park in Belgium.

Yu Tsun is a contradictory character; although he is Chinese, he teaches
English. 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 artillery.

Source: "`The Garden of Forking Paths,'" in Short Stories for Students,
Vol. 9, Gale Group, 2000.

Source Database: Literature Resource Center