Irony: “The Gospel According to Mark” Essay
Ironic Christ Figure
In his short story “The Gospel According to Mark,” Jorge Luis Borges comments on the effects of preaching foreign beliefs to a group of people. Borges, however, makes his statement on the matter using an ironic situation that helps the reader understand the consequences of preaching what one does not practice more memorably. By using irony, Borges both injects the story with interest for the reader and suggests that there exists some greater power in the universe that punishes those that do preach what they do not believe.
Borges begins developing the ironic conclusion of the story in the first paragraphs of the story when he describes the protagonist as a Christ figure and later contrasts the idea. Espinosa, the readers are told, is “thirty-three” with “an almost unlimited kindness and a capacity for public speaking,” (183) making him comparable to Christ at the age of His Crucifixion, who had gained followers with his kindness and charisma. Also, Espinosa, who is stranded indoors with the Gutres family after a large flood that is reminiscent of the Biblical account of Noah’s Ark and who at the time has a beard like Christ, repeatedly reads to the Gutres the story of Christ’s crucifixion from the Gospel of Mark. Espinosa is once more comparable to Christ when he cures a pet goat with “pills,” an act which resembles magic to the rural family. Borges characterizes the Gutres as Christ’s followers and writes, “as if lost without [Espinosa,] liked following him from room to room…” (186) Borges goes on to state however that Espinosa is not religious and only prays before bed because of a promise he had made to his mother. This facet of Espinosa’s character is ironic in itself as it makes the Christ figure of the story not religious, causing the reader to believe it strange later when Espinosa begins to read to the Gutres from the Bible.
By contrasting all of the similarities that make Espinosa a Christ figure with the very ironic fact that the man himself is not religious and has a “[dim] theology,” (187) Borges sets the stage for the greater irony of the story. Though the reader would expect Espinosa to die in a metaphorical Crucifixion at most, the reader is taken back by how literal the crucifixion of the Christ figure is. The Gutres take the Gospel According to Mark to heart and see the story it tells not as a story but as orders being given from their Christ who reads it to them. When the family literally crucifies their Christ, their actions reveal the greater irony of the story, as the man who is ignorant to religion and believes himself to be a “free thinker” (187) is actually seen as Christ by his followers; essentially the man has prophesized and instructed his own death.
This greater cosmic irony of the story suggests to the reader that God Himself or some other universal entity has led Espinosa to the crucifixion because of his ignorant missionary work. The lesson that is opened to Espinosa’s eyes at the end of the story as he realizes what is happening is also one taught to the reader. Both Espinosa and the reader realize, through the ironic situations of the story, the importance of knowing what you teach and the potential, yet extreme, dangers of not doing so.
In his short story “The Gospel According to Mark,” Jorge Luis Borges comments on the effects of preaching foreign beliefs to a group of people. Borges, however, makes his statement on the matter using an ironic situation that helps the reader understand the consequences of preaching what one does not practice more memorably. By using irony, Borges both injects the story with interest for the reader and suggests that there exists some greater power in the universe that punishes those that do preach what they do not believe.
Borges begins developing the ironic conclusion of the story in the first paragraphs of the story when he describes the protagonist as a Christ figure and later contrasts the idea. Espinosa, the readers are told, is “thirty-three” with “an almost unlimited kindness and a capacity for public speaking,” (183) making him comparable to Christ at the age of His Crucifixion, who had gained followers with his kindness and charisma. Also, Espinosa, who is stranded indoors with the Gutres family after a large flood that is reminiscent of the Biblical account of Noah’s Ark and who at the time has a beard like Christ, repeatedly reads to the Gutres the story of Christ’s crucifixion from the Gospel of Mark. Espinosa is once more comparable to Christ when he cures a pet goat with “pills,” an act which resembles magic to the rural family. Borges characterizes the Gutres as Christ’s followers and writes, “as if lost without [Espinosa,] liked following him from room to room…” (186) Borges goes on to state however that Espinosa is not religious and only prays before bed because of a promise he had made to his mother. This facet of Espinosa’s character is ironic in itself as it makes the Christ figure of the story not religious, causing the reader to believe it strange later when Espinosa begins to read to the Gutres from the Bible.
By contrasting all of the similarities that make Espinosa a Christ figure with the very ironic fact that the man himself is not religious and has a “[dim] theology,” (187) Borges sets the stage for the greater irony of the story. Though the reader would expect Espinosa to die in a metaphorical Crucifixion at most, the reader is taken back by how literal the crucifixion of the Christ figure is. The Gutres take the Gospel According to Mark to heart and see the story it tells not as a story but as orders being given from their Christ who reads it to them. When the family literally crucifies their Christ, their actions reveal the greater irony of the story, as the man who is ignorant to religion and believes himself to be a “free thinker” (187) is actually seen as Christ by his followers; essentially the man has prophesized and instructed his own death.
This greater cosmic irony of the story suggests to the reader that God Himself or some other universal entity has led Espinosa to the crucifixion because of his ignorant missionary work. The lesson that is opened to Espinosa’s eyes at the end of the story as he realizes what is happening is also one taught to the reader. Both Espinosa and the reader realize, through the ironic situations of the story, the importance of knowing what you teach and the potential, yet extreme, dangers of not doing so.
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