Publication Date
12-1-2014
Abstract
The work of Jorge Luis Borges is often riddled with metaphysical themes. This essay highlights such themes in his short story “Las ruinas circulares” and analyzes his view of mankind’s concept of reality. It also evaluates the role that dreams and thoughts play in the inability of the human mind to think beyond the “circular” confines of one’s mental structure. The main character, a magician with the ability to dream another human being into existence, is distracted from the truth that he, too, is a dreamt being. I propose that his limited knowledge disables him from being able to reason beyond what he believes to be true of reality, and thus fails to understand the nature of his existence until the end of the story. Along with the main character, the reader is jolted out of the dream world by Borges’ unnerving perspective of the human mind’s partial grasp of reality.
DOI
10.32727/13.2018.50