24 pages • 48 minutes read
Borges and I
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Metaphor
The essay relies on the central extended metaphor of Borges being split into two beings. Borges uses this metaphor, maintaining two separate characters in the story to illustrate the duality of his identity. “Borges” represents his public, external persona, while “I” embodies his private, internal self. This framework allows him to examine the tension and separation between these two aspects of his identity, demonstrating the complex interplay between an author’s public image and their personal self. The metaphor also represents self-reflection, as one Borges—“I”—dissects the nature of the other contemplating his existence, the consequences of literary fame, and the ever-present duality of his identity.
Imagery
Borges uses thought-provoking and poetic imagery to build this essay, enhancing the reader’s understanding of the duality of identity. For instance, he portrays his external persona, “Borges,” as a name written on mail, a list of professors, or in books, creating images that emphasize this literary identity as something that only exists on the page. Likewise, Borges describes his true self as “the laborious strumming of a guitar” (Paragraph 2), creating an auditory image that is more tactile than the text described previously. The word “laborious” in this image also implies that Borges’s sense of self is an ongoing process, something that takes work and can be improved.
Allusion
Borges makes literary and cultural allusions in the essay, including references to specific authors and philosophical ideas. These allusions enrich the text by connecting it to broader intellectual and literary contexts, inviting readers to contemplate the relationship between his work and these references. For example, Borges references works he has written to emphasize the role literature has played in shaping his inner identity and external persona. His reference to Spinoza evokes the philosopher’s key ideas about determinism, God, nature, and individuality. Likewise, referencing Robert Louis Stevenson calls to mind Stevenson’s novels, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which emphasizes Borges’s meditations on duality.
Unlock all 24 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Jorge Luis Borges
