TLON- AWR

Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertiu by Jorge Luis Borges is somewhat difficult to understand because it includes a number of concepts that are tough to understand at first. Everything in Tlon is a dream that gradually becomes reality. There is this idea that every man is actually two, which makes the reader wonder which man is real and which one is created by the dream. Further in the story, Borges founds an encyclopedia that shows Tlon's existence, thus making it seem more real as opposed to imaginary. The idea of dream vs. reality is present because although the majority of people mentioned in the story are real, the events in which they are involved in are not. Taking this idea further, there are missing pages that refer to Uqbar essence which questions the existence of Uqbar. This gives the reader the idea that perhaps the curiousity of the two men has transformed their perception of reality in order for them to perceive a new imaginary world. Magical realism is also displayed in this story because of the way that time is portrayed. This is because there are no definite boundaries between the present and the future. Also, Borges analyzes the concept of language and how it is able to have an effect on the way we look at the world. The concept of the "Mirrors" later is introduced, and the significance of this is that a mirror shows a false motion from one individual to another that gets passed from one generation to the next.