29 pages 58 minutes read

Jorge Luis Borges

The Library of Babel

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1941

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Topics

1.

How does Jorge Luis Borges use the Library as a metaphor to explore the limitations of human knowledge and language in “The Library of Babel”?

2.

Discuss the role of the narrator in the story. How does the narrator’s perspective shape the reader’s understanding of the Library and its mysteries?

3.

Analyze the themes of existentialism and absurdism present in the story, focusing on the librarians’ search for meaning in an infinite and seemingly chaotic universe.