• Metaphors are made by linking two different things together
• Chinese call the world “the ten thousand things.” Borges uses it to describe the amount of possibilities to create metaphors. 10,000 X 9,999 X 9,998…
• The of fact of a metaphor being felt by the reader or heard by the listener is important – “metaphors that are felt as metaphors by the reader”
• Metaphors follow patterns: comparison, life as a dream, linking of ideas of sleeping and dying, and many others.
• Same pattern may be used but infinite variations are possible
• Life as a dream: “Have I dreamt my life, or was it a true one?” – Walther von der Vogelweide
• Some metaphors have not pattern – EX: “web of men,” “whale roade”
• Something is more effective if suggested rather than laid out
Borges gives his idea of a metaphor in this writing of his and likens it to the idea of comparison, although there are exceptions. He believes that there are many patterns of which one can make a metaphor from but that only a handful are commonly used by writers. He also discusses the complexity of metaphors and how one can decipher a metaphor by separating its components and analyzing them on separate platforms. This hopefully will lead to one understanding the relationship between the components. Borges informal style writing and inclusion of personal opinion on other’s works creates an enjoyable way to learn a certain perspective on metaphors.
- Eric Windell
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