Natalya Gornopolskaya

Blog by Natalya Gornopolskaya
“The Lottery in Babylon,” “Prologues to The Library of Babel,” “The Library of Babel”

I enjoyed this first story very much. I have previously read several short stories involving a lottery but never one quite like this. The people of Babylon subject themselves to a lottery of chance in which the fate of all people is decided. Sometimes the outcome is fortunate, but other times it may result in death. No one knows which company is involved or who the people in charge are, but both are certainly a powerful force in the lottery. Just as the story mentions, I too wonder why these people continue to consent to such a lottery that offers virtually no benefits for anyone involved. Simply anyone is at risk of torture, death and many other dire consequences. Why must such a barbarous lottery continue at the expense of the Babylonians? Perhaps Borges is simply trying to convey that the lottery itself is an invisible force of fate that exists whether people agree with it or not. He’s saying that fate is like this all powerful company that exists in secrecy, for the sole purpose of deciding upon each and all of our individual fates. Sometimes good things can happen and other times things don’t turn out so well, but the point is we have no control. It is not up to us to decide upon our fates, because an unseen force has already made our decisions.

“The Library of Babel”, embodies the reoccurring Borgesian theme of the Labyrinth, which in this case means the library. The library is an unquantifiable hexagon, which contains every book, which holds any language, thought or word known to man. He also mentions a crimson hexagon which contains this never-ending book that somehow holds all of the information contained in every book ever written. Such possibilities are both extraordinary and fascinating to consider. The part that interests me most is how the narrator believes that every book is all in the same, and that libraries contain many books written in an indecipherable, repeating language or code. This means that libraries catalogue so much more than just books. Libraries are the windows to new worlds, and each library is like a universe of symbols. This new concept of a library is extremely thoughtful and revolutionary in meaning.