In 1995, Bill Gates, the world-renowned founder of Microsoft and personal computing visionary, published The Road Ahead, his study of computing history and examination of the ways in which computers will transform the lives of people all over the world. His enthusiasm for what is now commonly called the Information Age is found on every…
Tag: The Aleph
The Aleph – Setting
Argentine Politics and Art In 1940, Roman Castillo replaced President Roberto Ortiz. Like many Argentines at the time, Castillo admired Hitler and Mussolini; like many citizens of Germany and Italy, many Argentines yearned for the order that fascism would presumably impose on their nation; like many of their European counterparts, many Argentines lacked the foresight…
The Aleph – Literary Devices
The Story’s Epigraphs The two epigraphs that precede ‘‘The Aleph’’ serve as introductions to the story’s plot as well as short commentaries on its issues. The first, from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is said by the title character to his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: ‘‘O God! I could be bound in a nutshell, and count myself a…
The Aleph – Themes
The Nature of Memory In his parable ‘‘The Witness,’’ Borges imag[1]ines the last man to have witnessed pagan rituals dying in Anglo-Saxon England and remarks, ‘‘with him will die, and never return, the last immediate images of these pagan rites.’’ Because of this, ‘‘the world will be a little poorer,’’ since it will have lost…
The Aleph – Characters
Borges ‘‘The Aleph’’ is narrated by Borges, a fictional stand-in for the author, which allows him to foster a sense of realism. Like the author, the narrator is an Argentine writer who detests pretentious authors like Daneri and who was also passed by for the National Prize for Literature. The narrator is a man haunted…
The Aleph – Summary
‘‘The Aleph’’ begins in 1943 with Borges (the narrator) informing the reader of his love for Beatriz Viterbo, who (we are told) died in 1929. In an effort to devote himself ‘‘to her memory,’’ Borges began visiting Beatriz’s father and cousin, Carlos Argentino Daneri, every April thirtieth—Beatriz’s birthday. These visits occurred every year, and Borges…