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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ficciones, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Investigation and Knowledge
Language and Human Consciousness
Perspective, Authorship, and Subjectivity
Infinity
Reality vs. Illusion
Summary
Analysis
Borges tells the story of meeting “the Englishman of La Colorada.” Borges remembers the Englishman’s “glacial eyes, his energetic thinness, his gray mustache,” and his little contact with other people. Through a coincidental turn of events, Borges is forced to spend the night at the Englishman’s villa. As the Englishman (who has a scar on his face) and the narrator get to know one another, the narrator learns that the Englishman is actually Irish. After the Irishman and Borges become drunk, the Irishman tells the narrator the story of his scar, on the condition that Borges “not belittle a single infamous circumstance.”
The fact that the Englishman is actually Irish is Borges’s first clue that his perception of the “Englishman” may not be exactly true. The condition that the Irishman provides to hear his story—that Borges not “belittle” any elements of the story—demonstrates how close to his heart this story really is. This also highlights how important storytelling is in general in building relationships and defining oneself.
Themes
Now in narrating in first person, the Irishman tells Borges that he was conspiring in 1922 with his comrades in Connaught, Ireland for a free Irish republic. “For us,” he says, “Ireland was not only the utopian future and the intolerable present: it was a bitter and loving mythology.” In this revolutionary effort, he meets John Vincent Moon, a young communist and intellectual. The Irishman and Moon stay together in a General’s house, arguing about communism. Over the next few days, the Irishman goes into battle while Moon stays home, claiming to be too unwell to fight and offering his opinions about combat strategies. The Irishman deems Moon a coward and feels embarrassed for him. The Irishman muses on the fact that one man’s cowardice can reflect on other men.
Through the Irishman, Borges explores the character of a revolutionary, driven by ideals. The Irishman’s conflicts with Moon, though they are on the same side, come down to the different ways the two men choose to express their ideas. The Irishman’s reflection on the way one man’s cowardice can be a disgrace to all men mirrors the collective nature of their revolutionary cause, fighting together for a better world.
Themes
On the 10th and last day of battle, The Irishman returns home to hear Moon giving information on the phone in exchange for “guarantees of personal safety.” The Irishman chases Moon through the house and cuts his face in a half-moon shape. The Irishman reveals that he himself is John Vincent Moon, and he only told the story from the other man’s perspective so Borges would listen.
The Irishman, who is really Moon, is fully aware of his dishonorable behavior. He believes that, since he is the villain of the story, the listener will only truly listen to the story if he tells it from the other person’s perspective. This is a statement on trends of storytelling—many compelling stories are told from the hero’s perspective.
Themes
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