“GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK” CHARACTER ANALYSIS

“GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK” CHARACTER ANALYSIS

            We read stories with the aim of learning about life, the world surrounding us and the way people react to different circumstances and experiences in life. Characters help us realize how people might react to different situations. In cases where we find ourselves relating to characters in the story, then that makes it more meaningful. And in so doing, people are left in better positions for life circumstances which may face them. In case we find ourselves not relating to the characters, it is also helpful because we get to understand that it is not all situations which require a response.

Characters are significant in stories because they govern the whole story. Different types of characters involved in a tale build distinct kinds of conflicts, tensions, and resolutions. For instance, a story touching on a prostitute starting a new life by deciding to join college probably will have different types of anxiety, conflicts, and resolutions from a story on a truck driver trying to make amendments for a case which involves him killing a hitchhiker. Considering these two examples, it is clear that the characters’ desires, dreams, and thoughts act as driving forces of the two stories.

In the “The Gospel According to Mark” by Jorge Luis Borges, Baltasar Espinosa who is the central character in the fiction and who in many of the scenarios he undergoes has demonstrated to be a true believer, as well as a staunch follower of Jesus’s footsteps. Amid the fiction, we are convinced without any reasonable doubt that Espinosa is a hypocrite. His actions at some points prove that the character was just but a blind follower of the doctrine, and whose true character had just been hidden by the illiteracy levels of Gutres people.

I mean, as a representative and a role model to people, some of the actions Espinosa involves himself with apparently leaves readers with a lot of questions. We expected him as a role model and a shadow of Jesus Christ to act just like Jesus Christ fully and not partially as he does. For instance, Espinosa’s character doubts begin when he first declares that he did not mind about his country. Taking this statement in comparison to Jesus Christ, it is far away from what Jesus advocated for his people. Jesus Christ is presented to have died for his people because he minded them. Therefore, the statement by Espinosa is a clear indication that he was not even aware of the virtues Jesus advocated for but he followed what he had been taught by his parents “saying the Lord’s Prayer and making signs of the cross.”

His approach to situations also leaves some question whether he was truly a believer. Taking the example of what had happened after some of his classmates tried to force him to join the university strike, it depicts a picture of a non-believer. We encounter Espinosa exchanging blows with those classmates instead of resolving the issue in a manner which would demonstrate his difference as a believer and a shadow of Jesus Christ. This violent way of addressing issues shows that Espinosa did not truly understand the behavior of a true believer but was just a blind follower of the gospel with the only advantage of being literate.

Espinosa also proves to be a fake believer who cannot resist temptations despite being given the position of Jesus Christ in the fiction. Under different circumstances, after Jesus is faced with temptations, he could overcome contrary to Espinosa who fails to overcome the only temptation which befalls him. When the foreman daughter knocks his door at night, Espinosa gives in and without condemnation to what the girl was up to; he quickly gives in and sleeps with the girl. As a character to have been given the position of Jesus Christ in the fiction, we expected that he could overcome such a temptation just like Jesus did in many temptations he was faced with.

After falling into the temptation and slept with the foreman’s daughter, as a believer and a true follower of the doctrine, we expected that Espinosa could regret what had happened and repent because that was sinful but that is contrary to what he decides to do. Instead, Espinosa is presented in the fiction swearing not to tell anyone of the incident when he returns to Buenos Aires “Impelled by some sentiment he did not attempt to understand, he swore that when he returned to Buenos Aires, he’d tell no one of the incident”. It shows that he was only concerned with the outward appearance and not the inward part of him. And although the incident seems to haunt him, he keeps it to himself so long as nobody was aware of what had happened between her and the girl. As a symbol of Jesus Christ in the fiction, we expected him to repent after realizing that he had fallen into the temptation instead of keeping it without taking action as he does.