Literary Analysis of The Gospel According to Mark by Jorge Luis Borges

Introduction

Jorge Luis Borges, born in 1899, is an Argentinan short story writer and poet. “The Gospel According to Mark” is one of his short stories that was published in 1970. It covers biblical ideas and crucifixion. It begins with an introduction to Baltazar Esponosa and his trip to his cousin’s farm run by the Gutre family Esponisa spends time with the Gutres after a flood and eventually gets turned into a God-like figure. In “The Gospel According to Mark”, Jorge Luis Borges demonstrates extreme control over characterization, theme, and setting to create a wonderfully written story with a beautifully executed plot twist, crucifixion. 

The way Borges characterizes his characters sets up why the Gutre family crucified Espinosa. The audience learns of the Gutre family’s odd regression to an older point in the world when Espinosa finds the family’s bible. Espinosa Espinosa is looking at the bible. Espinosa says, “The chronicle broke off sometime during the eighteen-seventies, when they no longer knew how to write. After a few generations, they had forgotten English; their Spanish, at the time Espinosa knew them, gave them trouble”. When Espinosa says that, the reader learns the Gutres are almost of an ancient, biblical time. Because of this, they are not aware of many modern things. This is an amazing characterization because it sets up why the Gutres would consider crucifixion. 

Through the setting, Borges also provides context for the end crucifixion. A major part of the setting is the flood that occurs in the story. The flood is described for several paragraphs and remains a recurring theme afterward. In the text, it is said that “the Salado overflowed its banks”. Borges describes a great flood of Junin, which could be compared to the biblical flood of Genisis. This explains why the Gutres could come to see Espinosa as a God-like figure. 

The theme of “The Gospel According to Mark” also truly shows off the crucifixion as its shining star. Borges writes this story as one of naivety and backwardness from the Gutres and misjudgment from Espinosa leads to sacrifice. As stated from the quote in the first paragraph, Espinosa believed they were naive and innocent people, but their naivety resulted in his own death and sacrifice. The Gutres did not know any other way and when Espinosa came and read to them stories of people such as them getting a better life, they made the connection of Espinosa being a god-like figure. The theme is a perfect fit with the other literary devices. 

Conclusion 

Overall, all three literary concepts fit perfectly to advance the plot and the ending. If the characterization is off or the setting was not as impeccable, the ending would make no sense. “The Gospel According to Mark” by Jorge Luis Borges takes humanity to a pre-Chirst time and suggests what it could be like if humans revert to previous ways.