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14. Three Versions of Judas
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
Recabarren, a shop owner, lies in bed. As he wakes, he hears a guitarist. He compares the sound of the guitar to a labyrinth “winding and unwinding.” As he wakes, Recabarren remembers his monotonous existence. Recabarren remembers a time when the guitarist entered a song contest with another man and lost. Since the song contest, the guitarist has continued to play around the shop, though he does not sing.
In his prologue to Part 2, Borges specifies that Recabarren is the only invented character in this story. The “labyrinth” of the guitar music takes Recabarren through a labyrinth of memories in his mind, specifically the previous song contest.
Themes
It was after that song contest that Recabarren suddenly became paralyzed and lost his power of speech. However, Recabarren does not pity himself. Recabarren’s son opens the door to his room, and Recabarren silently asks if there is anyone in the shop. His son says no, though the guitar player is there, and then leaves Recabarren to continue lying there.
The fact that Recabarren’s son says there is no one in the shop even though the guitar player is there suggests that the guitar player has become a constant figure in the background of Recabarren’s life.
Themes
Recabarren hears a horseman arrive and confront the guitarist in the shop. The two men seem acquainted with one another, as the guitarist says he has been waiting for the man. The man, in turn, calls the guitarist (who is Black) a racial slur, and it slowly becomes evident that the man, whose name is Martín Fierro (a character in a well-known Argentinian epic poem), killed the guitarist’s brother in a knife fight seven years ago.
Not only does the guitarist and Fierro’s relationship indicate that they have history with one another, but Fierro’s use of a racial slur against the guitarist demonstrates cultural attitudes in Argentina at the time. Because Fierro is such a famous Argentinian character, this attitude takes on a larger significance in the context of Argentinian culture in general.
Themes
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The two men engage in a knife fight, which Recabarren watches from his cot. The guitarist kills Fierro. The narrator remarks that, from then on, the guitarist has no further purpose in life and now must live with the fact that he has killed a man.
The implication that the guitarist’s only purpose is to take revenge on Fierro suggests that fate is a major governing factor of a man’s life. Though his fate was to avenge his brother, the guitarist will still suffer with the knowledge that he has done something immoral.
Themes
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