Katherine Tesi

I found Borges’ “Death and the Compass” to be the most enjoyable story yet. I’ve started to realize more of the elements that are included within his stories and in return I find them more entertaining. I noticed his initial use of color in the story, often referring to red towards the beginning passages. I also found the use of numbers quite interesting, especially his use of the number three. His choice of three was unclear at first and then when the presence of religion became stronger within the story; I began to think that three might be a continual reference to the Holy Trinity. Borges also refers to the numbers two and four; however their meanings weren’t as clear to me. Similarly on a mathematical note, Borges refers to geometry and symmetry within the text, which alluded to a sense or need for balance (symmetry). As I mentioned before religion had a presence in the text. Originally, there was a sense of religion being a driving force behind the killer’s actions, but eventually we find out that religion was coincidentally tied in and the killer could be considered to be anti-religion. Finally, we once again find the use of both the labyrinth (the “infinite house) and mirrors within this story. Although the final lines about the “straight line labyrinth” confused me, it did seem like an interesting idea.