Jeff : Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius

Throughout the story of Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Borges explores many different philosphical questions of an unknown and idealistic world. He discovers the history of this world through a false encyclopedia, which was given to him by a friend. He and others are intruiged by the texts and they initally accept the notion, ex ungue leonem, and attemp to reconstruct the fantasical world through the little knowledge available. However, they later realize that it would have been impossible for one man to have created this world, and that it would have taken the creativity of many men to come up with such a magical tale. This idea was later reinforced by indications in the initial text that was given to Borges.

Borges introduces the different ways objects can be created and perceived in another world. He mentions that on the world on Tlön, magic is the creator of reality and only ideal objects exists. On page 74, he states that “every mental state is irreducible: the simple act of giving it a name – introduces a distortion.”

A main theme that Borges explores is that of language and how it can affect the way we interpret the world around us. He describes that on Tlön, “the act of counting modifies the amount counted.” Similarly, in literature, the act of reading (and re-reading) can modify the meaning and interpretation of the text. Borges compares this concept to that of a mirror, which can never exactly reproduce an image that it had previously produced.

In the world of Tlön, the world “is a heterogeneous series of independent acts.” Borges goes on to describe that ideas have the ability to create themselves in reality and that mental processes occur successively in time rather than in space. These things created can combine with one another, creating something new. This can happen an infinite amount of times, creating an immeasurable number of different worlds.

Another theme throughout the story is that ideas have the capability to manipulate reality. Borges touches upon this theme many times, at one point mentioning on page 74 that “while we sleep here, we are awake somewhere else, so that every man is in fact two men.” He reinforces this theme with the last quote of the story, saying “Sometimes a few birds, a horse, have saved the ruins of an amphitheater.”