Dreamtigers - Jorge Luis Borges

Summary

"El hacedor" (The Maker) is a collection of prose poems, short stories, essays, and poems by Jorge Luis Borges, first published in 1960. It is a deeply personal and reflective work, exploring recurring Borges themes such as identity, time, infinity, mirrors, dreams, labyrinths, books, blindness, memory, and the act of creation itself. The titular piece, "The Maker," concerns Homer, a blind poet who gradually loses his senses but gains an inner vision, allowing him to create his epic works. The collection blurs the lines between reality and fiction, the author and his literary persona, and often uses meta-fiction to examine the nature of literature and human existence. It's a journey into Borges's philosophical mind, showcasing his unique blend of erudition, imagination, and existential inquiry, often through brief, potent narratives and meditations rather than traditional plot-driven stories.

Book Sections

Section: The Maker (El hacedor)

This prose poem delves into the mind of a legendary blind poet, implicitly Homer. It describes his slow descent into blindness and the accompanying loss of his other senses. As his outer world diminishes, his inner world expands, transforming his perceptions and giving him a unique ability to "see" and create. The poem reflects on how this physical deprivation might have been essential for his creative genius, allowing him to perceive universal patterns and forge myths that resonate through time. It suggests that true sight might reside beyond the physical, within the realm of imagination and language.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
The Maker (Homer)	Blind, aged, poet, legendary, insightful, losing physical senses.	To create, to understand the world through inner vision, to find meaning in his sensory deprivation.

Section: Dreamtigers (Los tigres soñados)

A very short, evocative piece where Borges reflects on his lifelong desire to dream of tigers. He recounts how, as a child, he could conjure vivid dream-tigers, but as he grew older, his dreams became less potent. He laments the diminishing capacity of his imagination to manifest these primal creatures with the same ferocity and authenticity they once possessed. It's a meditation on the power of childhood imagination, the fading of vivid dreams, and the inherent difficulty of truly creating something from nothing, even within the confines of a dream.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
The Narrator (Borges)	Writer, imaginative, reflective, nostalgic for childhood dreams.	To dream vividly, to connect with the primal force of the tiger, to understand the nature of imagination.

Section: Borges and I (Borges y yo)

This famous meta-fictional piece explores the duality between the public persona of the writer ("Borges") and the private, personal self ("I"). The narrator details how the public Borges is associated with literature, libraries, and fame, while the private "I" lives an ordinary life, prone to anxieties and personal experiences. He feels that the "other Borges" takes over his life, shaping his identity and consuming his existence through his literary output. The narrator grapples with the idea that he might just be a tool for Borges to create his works, and questions who truly writes and who truly lives. The distinction between the two becomes increasingly blurred, leading to an existential query about identity and authorship.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
"I" (The private Borges)	Personal, ordinary, subject to daily experiences, feels usurped.	To assert his individual existence, to differentiate himself from his public persona, to understand his own identity.
"Borges" (The public writer)	Famous, literary, intellectual, associated with books and literature, seen as a separate entity.	To create, to achieve literary fame, to exist as a cultural figure.

Section: The Golem (El Golem)

Inspired by the Jewish legend of the Golem of Prague, this story recounts the creation of a humanoid figure by a Rabbi using cabalistic knowledge and the power of language. The Rabbi, yearning to understand God's creation, shapes a clay figure and brings it to life by inscribing a divine name on its forehead. However, the Golem, though obedient, is imperfect and lacks a soul. It performs tasks but is devoid of true understanding or humanity. The Rabbi eventually destroys his creation, recognizing that man's attempt to emulate God's creative power is flawed and dangerous, and that true creation is a divine prerogative. The story is a profound meditation on creation, language, the limits of human knowledge, and the divine.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Rabbi Judah Löw	Learned, pious, mystic, seeks divine understanding, creator.	To create life through cabalistic knowledge, to emulate God, to understand the mysteries of creation.
The Golem	Clay figure, automaton, obedient, soulless, imperfect imitation of man.	To serve its creator, to exist as a programmed entity.

Section: The Parable of the Palace (Parábola del palacio)

This parable tells of an Emperor who commissions a poet to describe his magnificent, labyrinthine palace. The poet, after years of wandering and observing, composes a single, all-encompassing poem that perfectly captures the palace's essence, even its hidden corners and infinite complexities. When the poet recites it, the Emperor is so overwhelmed by its perfection that he orders the palace to be destroyed, fearing that a perfect description renders the original superfluous. The poet, however, has disappeared, perhaps having become one with his creation or having found an escape in his art. The story explores themes of art's relationship to reality, the idea of a perfect representation, and the potential for creation to transcend or even obliterate its subject.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
The Emperor	Powerful, possessive, aesthete, values perfection, ultimately destructive.	To possess ultimate beauty and understanding, to ensure his legacy, to avoid redundancy.
The Poet	Observant, artistic, reclusive, dedicated to his craft, creates perfect art.	To perfectly capture reality through language, to create enduring beauty, to achieve artistic transcendence.

Section: The Witness (El testigo)

A poignant and philosophical piece reflecting on the last person to remember a specific, ancient pagan ritual. The narrator imagines a world where the last memory of a pre-Christian pagan rite of Mithras, performed on a Roman legionary, dies with an old man in England. With his death, the entire history and significance of that particular ceremony vanish from human memory forever. The story posits that collective memory, passed down through generations, is what truly preserves the past, and when the last "witness" dies, a piece of history is irretrievably lost, becoming as if it never existed. It's a meditation on the fragility of history, the nature of memory, and the immense weight of individual experience in shaping our understanding of the past.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
The Old Man (The last witness)	Ancient, holds a unique memory, represents the end of an era.	To simply exist, holding the last vestige of a forgotten past.

Section: A Yellow Rose (Una rosa amarilla)

This very short piece reflects on the dying moments of the Italian poet Giambattista Marino. As Marino lies on his deathbed, a servant brings him a yellow rose. Marino looks at it and utters his last words, "The rose... is without 'why'... it blooms because it blooms." These words, attributed to the German mystic Angelus Silesius, emphasize the inherent existence and beauty of the rose, its being for its own sake, without need for explanation or purpose beyond its own blossoming. The piece captures a moment of profound insight at the threshold of death, a recognition of pure, unadulterated existence that transcends human reason and purpose.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Giambattista Marino	Dying poet, reflective, gains a final profound insight.	To express a final truth about existence and beauty.
The Servant	Attentive, provides comfort and a symbolic object.	To serve his master.

Literary Genre

Collection of short stories, prose poems, essays, and poems.
It often falls under the categories of Philosophical Fiction, Metafiction, Postmodern Literature, and Magical Realism (though Borges predates the term, his work heavily influenced it).

Author Facts

• Name: Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo
• Born: August 24, 1899, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Died: June 14, 1986, Geneva, Switzerland
• Nationality: Argentine
• Key Characteristics: Blindness (developed later in life, a recurring theme in his work), extensive knowledge of literature, philosophy, and mythology, worked as a public librarian.
• Influence: Widely considered one of the most influential figures in 20th-century literature, his work has impacted countless writers, philosophers, and critics worldwide.
• Notable Works: Ficciones, El Aleph, Universal History of Infamy, Dreamtigers (which includes pieces from "El hacedor").
• Awards: Though never awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (a source of much debate and regret among his admirers), he received numerous other prestigious awards, including the Jerusalem Prize, the Prix Formentor, and the Cervantes Prize.

Moral of the Book

"El hacedor" doesn't offer a single, didactic moral but rather invites readers to contemplate profound philosophical questions. Key takeaways include:

• The transformative power of adversity: Blindness, or any form of deprivation, can lead to a deeper, more profound inner vision and understanding.
• The nature of creation and reality: The book constantly questions the boundaries between creator and creation, dream and waking life, the real and the imagined. It suggests that art can be as real, or even more real, than the physical world.
• The fragility of identity: Through pieces like "Borges and I," the collection explores the fragmented nature of identity, the public vs. private self, and the way language and fame can shape one's sense of self.
• The importance of memory and oblivion: The collection frequently meditates on what is remembered, what is forgotten, and how memory shapes our perception of history and existence.
• The limitations and power of language: Borges uses language to create infinite worlds but also explores its inherent limitations in capturing ultimate truth or creation.

Curiosities

• Titular Significance: The title "El hacedor" (The Maker) is a deliberate choice, referring to the poet as a "maker" or "creator," specifically linking to Homer, who becomes the subject of the titular prose poem. It emphasizes the active, divine-like role of the artist.
• Borges's Blindness: Many pieces in "El hacedor" were written after Borges had largely lost his eyesight, which deeply informed his reflections on inner vision, memory, and the world of books and dreams. His increasing blindness forced him to rely more on memory and imagination, themes that permeate the collection.
• Autobiographical Elements: While highly philosophical and fictional, "El hacedor" is one of Borges's most personal collections. Pieces like "Borges and I," "Dreamtigers," and his poems directly address his life, experiences, and relationship with his own literary persona.
• Genre Blurring: The collection is a masterclass in blurring literary genres. It's difficult to categorize a single piece as purely a story, an essay, or a poem; they often meld elements of all three, a hallmark of Borges's experimental style.
• The Golem's Language: In "The Golem," the idea that the creature is brought to life through language (Hebrew letters) and specific names of God reflects Borges's deep fascination with Kabbalah and the mystical power attributed to words and texts.