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SUMMARY OF The Aleph

This summary provides an overview of the central themes and arguments presented in the document in 3 sentences: The document presents brief summaries of 17 stories by Jorge Luis Borges from his collection "El Aleph." The stories explore themes such as immortality, fate, revenge, the labyrinth, and the infinite. Borges plays with reality and fiction in the narratives, raising questions about identity, time, space, and the nature of existence.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
27 views4 pages

SUMMARY OF The Aleph

This summary provides an overview of the central themes and arguments presented in the document in 3 sentences: The document presents brief summaries of 17 stories by Jorge Luis Borges from his collection "El Aleph." The stories explore themes such as immortality, fate, revenge, the labyrinth, and the infinite. Borges plays with reality and fiction in the narratives, raising questions about identity, time, space, and the nature of existence.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The story 'The Aleph' by Jorge Luis Borges explores themes of infinity and the nature of existence through

the experiences of the protagonist, who discovers a point in space that contains all other points. This enigmatic place allows him to see everything in the universe simultaneously, leading to profound realizations about time, memory, and the limitations of human perception.
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Jorge Luis Borges


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INTRODUCTION
The power of writing lies in its ability to recreate a world or several; to tell a story or multiple stories;
to make us participate in the emotions of others and to question our immediate reality. In this way, the
authors, mainly of novels and short stories, (not to forget the journalistic power of the word) have bequeathed to us their
personal conception of the world transmitted exclusively with letters and signs. Jorge Luis Borges is a case
unusual in universal literature. Its bet lies, due to its genius and creativity, in multiple readings of a
sole work. For Borges, all acts happen at the same time and in the same place. Therefore, the author
obsesses with its main characters: The otherness says the world that, without realizing it, cohabits with the
ours, time, space, mathematics, the past, present and future, the labyrinths, the enigmas, the
cultural quotes alongside the apocryphal, religion and science, dreams, and mental games make up the
complex reading of Borges. His constants will always be the same. These are the ingredients of the
seventeen stories that make up El Aleph, a book that has unleashed numerous since its appearance in 1949.
studies all over the world.
In The Aleph, the author can begin to narrate one story and end in another, cited as a witness character of
his stories talk to us about libraries born from his imagination and completely break with tradition
contemporary narrative. Its reading is a double challenge: to the neurons and to the imagination. The following are
interpretations and approaches to these 17 stories in search of the argument of that restless and cultured whirlwind.

SUMMARY

The Immortal
The testimony of a man who speaks of a river that 'purifies from death' and the existence of a city
inhabited by immortals, it is the trigger for someone else to decide to find it. In Rome, they are warned:
"To prolong the lives of men was to prolong their agony and multiply the number of their deaths." To man, he
two hundred soldiers are provided, recruits several mercenaries and embarks on his venture. During the
road, desperation and riots appear. The man flees accompanied by a few faithful tales and, wounded,
sleep and dream of a labyrinth. As he unravels –not talking about waking up– from the nightmare, the man finds
the city of the immortals and its inhabitants: The troglodytes. Encouraged by thirst, man drinks from a water
dark and falls into a deep sleep not without uttering, inexplicably, some words in Greek. This
man, a soldier of the Roman Empire, recovers and directs his steps to the city of the immortals.
troglodytes, who do not utter words, let it go in peace. The city of the immortals is described with
cameras and hallways, symmetrical and endless architecture. Upon leaving the city of the immortals, the man
try to talk to a troglodyte whom he named Argos - the name of Ulysses' dog
Odyssey - The troglodyte struggles to speak Greek, but he knew who Argos was even though they were talking about a
story told one hundred thousand years ago. Man has to find the water that will restore him to his condition of
mortal. Earlier he will talk to us about his numerous experiences. The story ends with a series of quotes that label
this story is false but the author has his doubts.

The dead
The story tells us about Benjamín Otálora, who after killing an enemy, sets off in search of
de Azevedo Bandeira. That night, in a scuffle, he deflects a stab aimed precisely at Bandeira.
Bandeira proposes to Otálora to bring a troop with him. He accepts and sets off towards Tacuarembó. A year later,
Otálora becomes a gaucho and learns to manage a ranch. He becomes a man of Bandeira and is known to be feared by
this fact. Soon, Otálora discovers that Bandeira is engaged in smuggling and wishes to rise as quickly as possible.
It's possible. Another year goes by. Otálora attends to a sick Bandeira, feeling that his ambitions will soon be fulfilled.
rewarded. Otálora longs for power, Bandeira's horse, and his woman. He decides to win the friendship of
henchman-bodyguard of the boss- and he promises to help him in his planned rise. Otálora orders the
troop and sleeps with Bandeira's wife. On the last day in the life of Benjamín Otálora, a
discovery. Dies at the hands of the capanga realizing that from the beginning, his end had been
planned.

The theologians
A book from a monks' library is saved from a fire. In it, a teaching of Plato is narrated and that
All things will return to their former state. A century later, we are presented with two men: Juan de
Pannonia and Aureliano. Both hold different positions regarding God and things. Additionally, they
introduces a group known as The Histrions, who believe that every man is actually two men
and that, in addition, their actions are directly inverted, that is: while one sleeps, the other is awake, if
one is good the other bad etc. And so, these theologians deal with the concepts of God. However, among
Juan of Pannonia and Aurelian were experiencing something uncommon, not only did they have disagreements but something beyond that
In some way, they were related. Juan de Panonia is accused by Aureliano himself of professing currents
heretics. Juan defends himself and maintains his ideas. He is accused of dying at the stake. Aureliano witnessed the
execution and then, after profound reflections on his actions and those of his nemesis, he dies surrounded
from a fire. In the sky, God receives Aureliano and Juan de Panonia as one single person.

Story of the warrior and the captive


Two stories separated by time intersect. The warrior Droctulft and an English friend of the author's grandmother.
Droctulft rebelled against his own people and offered to defend Rome. His act, more than a betrayal, was one of a
converses. Borges reads the story of Droctulft and immediately the memory of a tale from his grandmother assaults him. The
Borges' grandmother, an exiled Englishwoman, encounters another compatriot and they chat. The grandfather dies shortly after.
later, the grandmother finds her countrywoman drinking the blood of a slaughtered sheep. Borges brings those together
two destinations. That of the barbarian who is willing to defend what has been attacked and that of the Englishwoman far from her country in a place
strange. The relationship goes beyond the earthly.

Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz (1829-1874)


Tadeo Isidoro Cruz, son of Isidora and a man who was later murdered with a split skull. The gaucho
Tadeo, one night, kills a drunk man. The police follow him. Tadeo fights to the death and is captured.
enlisted as a private. He participated in many battles and was wounded several times. Later we found him.
married and with a son. Later, he is appointed sergeant of the rural police in the very place of his origin. The
Tadeo's destiny approaches him. For Borges, destiny consists of 'a single moment: the moment when the
A man knows forever who he is." In 1870, Tadeo receives the order to capture a murderer of two victims.
The man defends himself bravely. Tadeo has the impression that he has lived that moment with
previously. Tadeo then deserted from the army to join the rebel Martín Fierro (National hero of
Argentina

Emma Zunz
The story begins when Emma Zunz, a worker in a textile factory, receives a letter notifying her of the
suicide of her father. Emma then remembers the confession that Aarón Loewenthal, previously a manager, now
The owner of the factory is the thief. Her father told her this the last night they saw each other. Emma contemplates.
a plan that he intends to carry out. He calls Loewenthal and tells him that he has information about the strike that is brewing.
in his factory. On the appointed day, he chooses a man and surrenders to him. He thinks of his mother, of his father, and of the
humiliation of which she was once the object. A metaphysical revenge hides her act. Emma walks to
meet Loewenthal with the intention of killing him, which indeed happens, except that Emma couldn't
to say the speech that he had prepared. Loewenthal died without knowing his cause. Emma calls on the phone and accuses
Loewenthal, having summoned her and wanting to abuse her, had killed her. The incredible story is believed because
Everything that Emma Zunz recounted was true except for the circumstances "and one or two proper names."

The House of Asterion


Asterion, accused of pride and misanthropy, lives in his infinite home. He reflects permanently because
he only has to do one thing: receive nine men every nine years to be freed from evil. The
Asterion waits for his redeemer who may take him to another house less intricate and with an end. The labyrinth of
Asterion has accompanied him throughout his existence. It is all he knows.
The story ends when Theseus announces that he has killed the Minotaur of Crete - our Asterion.

The Other Death


A narrator - of course, Borges himself - tells us that he received a letter informing him, in the end, about
the death of Don Pedro Damián. The narrator recalled having seen him in 1942 and his image... ghostly... Pedro
Damián was a military veteran who had fought in many battles. Subsequently, the narrator went to
Colonel Tabares who remembers a Pedro Damián who died cowardly in the battle of Masoller.
the narrator confesses his intention to write a fantastic story about the site of Masoller. He returns to
house of Colonel Tabares and encounters another military veteran who remembers a Pedro Damián who died
bravely in the battle of Entre Ríos. Tabares no longer remembers the coward Pedro Damián. The matter is
it complicates when the narrator reunites with his friend from the letter at the beginning, who also does not remember
Pedro Damián. God is another character in this complicated tale and granted the coward to redeem himself in another
battle. In the end, the narrator questions their own memories and those of others, and even the existence of Pedro himself.
Damián.
German Requiem
Last thoughts of a Nazi criminal awaiting his execution. The notable thing is his extreme
intelligence, lover of Brahms' music, reader of Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and Spengler. His discourse is his
attitude towards life, at the hour of his death.

The Search for Averroes


Averroes, a scribe of Arab descent, is working on a text by Aristotle and pauses at the appearance
of two words of dubious meaning: tragedy and comedy. No one, in the realm of Islam, knew their meaning.
After a discussion with several wise colleagues, Averroes discovers comedy and tragedy in the Quran.
Then he disappears with his library. In the end, the author explains his intention and relationship with his own character.
how well it could have been him.

The Manifest
The Zahir is a word that represents a coin. A coin that comes into Borges's hands and refers him to the
death of a woman he was in love with: Teodelina Villar. The discovery of the narrator of everything
the meanings of the word Zahir disturb him to the point of getting rid of the coin as it is sensed that behind it
God is found in that object.

The writing of God


In a prison lies Tzinacán, magician of the pyramid of Qaholom. A wall separates him from a jaguar. The magician knows
that God wrote somewhere the solution to cure earthly ills. Tzinacán remembers from its
captivity his wanderings in search of that inscription. Perhaps the jaguar itself is. One night, Tzinacán
dreams that the sand covers him and that he is within another dream that in turn is enclosed in another. The magician
he wakes up and has a mystical experience while being tortured. Tzinacán knows the fourteen words written by
God knows that upon pronouncing them, he will be all-powerful. Tzinacán does not pronounce them so that the mystery dies with.
he.

Abenjacán the Bojarí, dead in his labyrinth


Dunraven narrates to his friend Unwin the death of King Abenjacán el Bojarí at the hands of his cousin Zaid. The
causes remain a mystery. The king lived in a labyrinth and a black man accompanied by a lion were the
main although unlikely suspects. Unwin doubts Dunraven's account. That night, the friends
they spend the night in the labyrinth. After several days and various conjectures, Unwin summons Dunraven and resolves the
case. Zaid's need to kill the king went beyond his disappearance; he had to get rid of the king to
take their place, even if just for a day.

The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths


A king of Babylon commands his wise men to design a labyrinth. It was so perfect that no one dared to enter.
The reckless continue to be lost. One day, the king receives a visit from the king of Arabia and challenges him to enter the
labyrinth. The king of Arabia enters and barely finds the exit. He tells his host that in his country there exists
a labyrinth more complex than he would gladly teach. When he returned to his lands, he gathered his army and invaded
Babylon. The king is captured and left by his counterpart in his labyrinth: the desert.

The wait
A man arrives at a place to which he does not belong and takes on an identity that is not his either. Mr. Villari
stays on the sidelines; does not make friends, usually goes to the movies and reads only one section of the newspaper. Tries not to be
seen and from a simple discussion, he locks himself in for five days out of fear of going out. At night, he dreamed that two
men and the real Villari came to kill him. In his dreams, he defended himself with the gun he kept
kept in vigilance. She calms down and recognizes the symptoms of sleep. So one night, convinced that
that slept, faced his dream. The shot of the gun disproved him.

The man on the threshold


Disturbances occur in a Muslim city, therefore, the authorities send a feared man to put in place.
Order, his name: David Alexander Glencairn. Soon, the city found peace. Some time later Glencairn
disappeared. The possibility of a murder was palpable since everyone in the city seemed to have sworn
to keep a secret. A judge is sent to find him and discovers lies and conflicting versions about him.
Glencairn stop. An old man recounts that he has been searching for the judge since childhood. When he finished his narration, hundreds
Men and women came out of their houses to celebrate that a man had just killed Glencairn.

The Aleph
The narrator begins by recounting the death of Beatriz Viterbo and the deep sorrow it left in him and his family.
Every year he would go to the house of the late woman to spend time with a pleasant family that welcomed him well. Among
they, Beatriz's cousin, Carlos Argentino Daneri, who shares his literary concerns with the narrator.
As time passed, the narrator suspects that Daneri intends for him to write the prologue to his work. For this, he has
to finish his poem at home, next to The Aleph. The first definition that the narrator offers us is: 'one of
the points of space that contain all the points." Daneri warns that The Aleph is only his and that
he discovered it in his childhood. The narrator considers him a madman and shows interest in knowing El Aleph.
Daneri agrees and takes him to his house. And there, while he was observing one of the many portraits of Beatriz, Borges ...
he speaks to his deceased beloved. Daneri gives precise instructions for Borges to see The Aleph and this, a
so skeptical, he abides by them. Finally, Borges encounters a sphere of two or three centimeters of
diameter where everything happens: Borges has found The Aleph. Everything happens at once, everything the
the universe is reflected in The Aleph and The Aleph in the whole universe.
Six months later, the house that hid El Aleph was destroyed. Danineri published his poems and obtained
even a national award.

In Buenos Aires, on August 24, 1899, Jorge Luis Borges is born. His work includes poetry, essays,
detective stories and novels. His unrestrained passion for reading led him to a mythical confinement where it blurs the
reality with fiction and that notably influenced all his work. He was removed from his position as director of
the National Library by Juan Domingo Perón. His progressive blindness did not take away his hunger for reading.
All his texts are abundant in quotes and historical data. However, Borges knows that the literary world is
feeds on the real and vice versa. The two worlds touch each other and it is when Borges' prose acquires meaning. Its
erudition is capable of questioning the most abstract of definitions. For Borges, time is timeless, the
identity is only half-known and the enigmas are made to be deciphered. Their stories, brief but
Saturated with information, they require multiple readings as they are also mazes in search of their exit. Their
Ambiguity confuses but fascinates. His collaborations in the Argentine press are remembered, especially
in the newspaper Sur. His main works are: Essays; Inquisitions 1925, The size of my hope 1926,
Discussion 1932, History of Eternity 1936, Martín Fierro 1953 and Praise of Shadow 1969. Poetry: Work
Poetics 1923-1967
The Book of Sand 1955, The Maker 1960 and The Congress 1971. In addition, he published under the pseudonym of Bustos.
Domecq, in collaboration with Adolfo Bioy Casares, several detective novels. A model for death.
1946.
By his own wish, Borges' remains rest in Geneva since June 4, 1986.

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