Today is August 23, 1983.

Fiction packet 3 probably should have been called Death Fiction 3.0. Actually, this .gif could very well replace most of the text and relay the same message.

(Just kidding, the text is much deeper. Also, the death motif isn't so much in the first story which has something to do with...brothers and burning fish? Still working on understanding that one. I think it has something to do with perception and metaphysics/reality/etc. Or maybe it is about death...)

Anyway, I decided to focus on the short story, "August 23, 1983" by Jorge Lois Borges. Talk about perception, metaphysics, reality, and death. Oh boy, this story was filled with all kinds of philosophical goodies. Not only does the author put himself in the story as the narrator, but as a character outside of himself. This brings a new meaning to man vs. self and man vs. man.

The interaction between the two shows a sort of introspection for Borges as he explores what his meaning in life is and if it is worth living. While the older Borges says to live on to the younger, he indeed intends to kill himself. While this would seem like a contradiction, the older reassures himself with prophecy that he will fulfill many more things- that life is worth living a little bit more, not because he will be successful, but because he will try to succeed something great. Ultimately, he seems to be just delaying the inevitable, but the younger Borges learns from this experience. He says, "I won't forget it and tomorrow I'll write it down", referring to the dream. The last sentence is, "Outside were other dreams, waiting for me." This shows that he lives to dream and to write about them. As long as they are waiting for him, he has purpose. The older Borges seemed to be out of dreams, as he attempted his masterpiece and failed and had no further to go.

The dream setting makes us question the reality of what we're reading. Is it truly a prophecy for the writer or a divine vision to stop him from killing himself? Is the older dreaming of the younger, reminiscing of times past? Is there some kind of supernatural visitation; time travel through dreams? By making the setting so questionable and transitory, Borges is reflecting this into our own world, making us question the validity of our lives as we think about our mortality.