Natalya Gornoplskaya

Blog by Natalya Gornopolskaya
Borges: “Man on Pink Corner,” “Et Cetera”

The “Man on Pink Corner” story was extremely puzzling in its execution. It starts out with a bunch of western type folks carousing at a local bar. Suddenly a tall stranger comes around and doesn’t receive such a warm welcome from the locals. It seems this stranger was told to go there in order to pick a fight with someone. Suddenly the bar breaks out into a crowded tango during which some men manage to sneak out. At one point Yardmaster and La Lujanera managed to slip their way out. The next time Yardmaster is seen he has been wounded with a blade and is bleeding to death inside the bar. Though it is unclear as to whether it was the narrator or the woman who he was with that did the deed, the key here was the dignified way in which the Yardmaster died. He showed no pain or signs of struggle; he simply accepted this fate with conviction. I believe Borges was trying to showcase that there is a sort of lively elemental aspect after death as shown in this story.

The story “Et Cetera” seems to be a series of religious events taking place that somehow relate to one another. Each story fragment here is similar in that a misfortunate character comes upon a good fortune; usually this is due by a god who grants such fortunes to those who need them. Later, the person receiving the good fortune does something dishonorable in which he angers the god that granted his fortune in the first place. The god’s must then adhere to these sinners by punishing them for all eternity because of their overbearing vices. I think perhaps this rather long series of similar passages was meant to reiterate the theme of human flaw and error and how we as mortals could never compare to the gods who are the utmost virtuous beings.