The Library of Babel Essay Questions

Discuss the significance of words that begin with capital letters in "The Library of Babel."

Borges makes stylistic choices in the use of capital letters to give extra significance to some words, especially those related to religion. Throughout the story, Borges uses the capitalized word God and uncapitalized word god(s), adding complexity to the narrator's religious views. For example, when criticizing the religious views of a sect of librarians, the narrator writes, "Mystics claim that their ecstasies reveal to them a circular chamber containing an enormous circular book...But their testimony is suspect, their words obscure. That cyclical book is God" (113). By capitalizing the word God, the narrator pays respect to their belief. However, the narrator also uses the common noun god or gods many more times in the story, even when talking about his personal beliefs. He writes of the Library, "its bookshelves, its enigmatic books, its indefatigable staircases for the traveler, and its water closets for the seated librarian—can only be the handiwork of a god" (113), meaning he believes there is at least one god that created the universe he inhabits. The religious significance of using the capitalized and uncapitalized God/god is paralleled in the capitalization of the words Library and Order. The word Library is capitalized all but one time in the story when the word "library" itself is discussed. Capitalizing "Library" when talking about the narrator's universe gives it a feeling of importance, perhaps even holiness. Likewise, in the quote "he would find after untold centuries that the same volumes are repeated in the same disorder—which, repeated, becomes order: the Order" (118), the word Order being capitalized emphasizes the religious meaning and assurance the narrator takes from the idea of there being structure to the universe on a higher level.

Why did Borges name the story "The Library of Babel"? What does this name foreshadow about the story?

The title "The Library of Babel" alludes to a story from the Old Testament about the tower of Babel. The story tells of a time when all people on Earth spoke the same language; they decided to build a tower together to reach heaven, and when they began to get close to accomplishing this feat, God struck them down. Not only did God prevent the humans from completing their tower, but God also scattered them across the world and caused them to speak different languages so they would not be able to communicate and work together the way they had while building the tower. This title foreshadows the importance of both religion and language as major themes in Borges's story. Furthermore, the word Library standing in place of the word tower puts the two structures in parallel, calling attention to how the tower of Babel approached but did not reach infinity, while the narrator of "The Library of Babel" believes the Library to be truly infinite.

What role does gender play in "The Library of Babel"?

As it is such a short story, "The Library of Babel" leaves the reader with some major questions about the society in the Library. One of these unanswered questions is the role, or even the mere existence, of gender in the Library. The second paragraph begins, the narrator states, "Like all the men of the Library, in my younger days I traveled" (112). From this use of the word "men," it can be inferred that either there are no female librarians or the society in the Library is one in which women have a drastically different role than that of the librarians we see described throughout the story. This intriguing question is furthered by the narrator's reference on the next page to an experience his father had. This, combined with the narrators reference to traveling when he was younger, shows that both reproduction and aging exist in the Library. And yet, a mother is never mentioned in the story, nor are any other women. Reading the story through a feminist lens could lead a reader to find Borges's exclusion of females from his Library misogynistic.

What is the significance of the epigraph from Anatomy of Melancholy?

An epigraph is a short quote, usually placed at the beginning of a book or chapter, which often foreshadows content or themes. "The Library of Babel" begins with the epigraph "By this art you may contemplate the variation of the 23 letters" (112) from The Anatomy of Melancholy, written by Robert Burton in 1621. The Anatomy of Melancholy was a medical textbook chiefly concerning melancholia (or depression). However, it included a good deal of philosophical writing not confined to the medical realm, which is likely why Borges became acquainted with it. This epigraph has significance foremost in its foreshadowing of the random variation of letters in the books of the library. Furthermore, the name of the book, The Anatomy of Melancholy, foreshadows the fact that the variation of letters is what drives many librarians to feelings of existential angst and depression. Additionally, the quote's reference to 23 letters when the language of the Library had only 22 (as explained in the editor's note on the second page) causes the reader to question from the beginning whether one should take the story as fiction or read it allegorically.

What is the significance or function of the footnotes in "The Library of Babel"?

There are four footnotes used over the course of "The Library of Babel"; one is specifically tagged as an editor's note, while the rest do not directly state whether they are notes from the narrator, the editor, or someone else. It is important to note that the editor was not an actual person editing Borges's work, but rather a fictional character created by Borges to provide context to some of the narrator's statements. The footnotes, and the presence of this fictional editor, raise many questions such as what language the narrator originally wrote the story in (since the editor writes in the first footnote that the language of the books in the Library has 22 letters) and whether we are supposed to view the story as a work of fiction or simply a thought experiment (since the story ends with a footnote calling into question whether the setting of the Library is necessary to probe the idea of infinity). Thus, while the function of the footnotes on the surface is to explain the context of the narrator's writing, they also have a deeper function of probing the relationship between writer, editor, and reader.