On the Garden of Forking Paths

When I read this story for the very first time I did not notice even half of examples of the Labyrinth that are in this work. After discussing in class though, and reading it multiple times afterward I have become overwhelmed with the examples of the Labyrith that can be found in this story, almost every paragraph has a new one. In "Garden of Forking Paths" Jose Luis Borges uses labyrinths as a central theme of the story, which allows the reader to explore and question what time really is, as well as experience an especially non-conventional non-linear view of time.

The protagonist, a Chinese man named Yu Tsun, spies for the German army in the First World War and is the medium through which this story is told and by which the labyrinths are presented. Throughout the story the concept of time is prevalent in its relation to the Labyrinth.

In the very beginning it almost seems as if Yu Tsun were loyal to Germany, but as the story progresses little hints are dropped that indicate that he actually feels oppressed by the German army, and even feels resentment toward it because he has to spy for them. Yu Tsun demonstrates a strange desire to impress his oppressors, by remarking that the chief is abhorrent sort of person and he just wants to prove to him that a "yellow man" (yellow meaning Chinese) can save his army. This is ironic because it is clear that Yu Tsun feels oppressed because of his race, and yet he still struggles to seek the approval of those oppressing him. This demonstrates one of the Labyrinths that Yu Tsun is navigating in this story, the Labyrinth of oppression.