This week’s reading “Labyrinths” by Jorge Luis Borges, made me reach different conclusions. The book itself and its plot didn’t catch my attention as much as expected, although I admire Borges as an author and I enjoyed his writing. The title of the book is a metaphor itself to explain the difficulties that individuals experience throughout their lives. Borges about the ups and downs of life, and how like in a labyrinth, humans find obstacles and complexities they have to solve to keep going. The plot had a very philosophical background about life, which sometimes I enjoyed and sometimes I struggled to connect with.

Borges reflects on the human identity and the meaning of life, the meaning of being alive. In “The Garden of Forking Paths” he focuses on the idea that every decision we make creates a new reality and a variety of new possibilities for us, both positive and negative, that can lead us to different outcomes and situations. The main character of this story is Dr. Yu Tsun, a German spy during World War I who discovers that his enemy, a British agent, is passing information using a novel called “The Garden of Forking Paths”. This is an example where Borges reflects on the idea that humans make their own decisions and the outcomes they face are entirely the consequences of these. These concepts about decisions got me thinking about the meaning of “destiny” or “luck”, concepts that wouldn’t be part of human life according to Borges’ ideas. Like in a labyrinth, we are responsible for choosing the path we take and there is a reason behind our decisions, which we have to hold on to and accept even if the results aren’t what we imagined.

Borges’ writing style is imaginative, philosophical, and highly metaphorical throughout the novel. He often uses complex language to communicate his ideas to the reader, making the reader it reflect on his words and empathize with their own life experiences. Therefore, this book was also a personal reading experience for me, since some of the author’s thoughts about life decisions and consequences align with mine. Borges’ stories are highly surreal, challenging logic and conventional expectations, which makes it confusing but at the same time entertaining.

Did you connect with the author’s thoughts about human life and agreed with his idea on “the consequences of our actions and decisions”? Why or why not?