How Ironic!

Tristan Sofia
Ms. Clapp
AP Lit. and Comp.
10 October, 2008
Irony Overdose
Jorge Luis Borges mocks the ignorant mentality of Christian followers through his ironic recreation, “Gospel According to Mark”. Different forms of irony take place to create a mirror image of Borges story to the Gospel of Saint Mark. The author exposes his ironic point of view by revealing characteristics that link the main character, Espinosa, to Jesus, in comparison to Espinosa’s idea of being nonreligious. Irony of fate plays into the story as Espinosa meets the same fate as Jesus as a result of the Gutres’ blind following to the events in the Gospel of Saint Mark. The use of irony heightens the immorality in Gutres actions by portraying Espinosa as innocent, and the ridiculousness in the idea of following a man who does not believe in what he teaches.
Borges’ ironic point of view emphasizes Espinosa’s carelessness to religion to compare Jesus’ character to question his followers’ intentions. Starting from the beginning of the novel, Borges separates himself from the narrator. The narrator uses an objective point of view by listing off characteristics of Espinosa, while Borges is aware that these characteristics are related to Jesus. Each trait is a check off the How to Read Literature like a Professor’s list on Christ figures, such as “being the age of thirty-three”, “growing a beard”, and having almost “unlimited kindness, as well as, a capacity for public speaking”. (183). The story transitions to identify Espinosa’s lack of passion in faith, as the narrator notes that he reads the Gospel of Saint to the Gutres, as “an exercise in translation, and maybe to find out whether the Gutres understood any of it” (186). Although, Borges infers that Espinosa does not believe what he preaches, and reveals that the Gutres continue to listen to him vigorously. Borges provides distance between himself and the narrator in order to allow the audience to see the irrationalness of following Espinosa, and connect it to the bigger idea of Christianity.
Although similar to Jesus, Espinosa is not Christ himself, and Borges uses irony to highlight the selfishness of the Gutres to kill Espinosa, as according to the Gospel. As Espinosa read the Gospel to the Gutres, they would treat him as the people of Jerusalem treated Jesus. He notices that the “Gutres would follow him from room to room, and that they would secretly steal the crumbs he had dropped on the table”. (186). By the end of the short story as the narrator exposes that Espinosa’s “theology is rather dim”, as he misinforms the Gutres that the “Roman soldiers who hammered in the nails through Jesus to the cross were saved” (187). Espinosa’s mistake costs his life due to the Gutres devotion to the Gospel. The Gutres end up crucifying him, as well as, “mocking, spitting, and shoving him” while he walks to his death, as the people of Jerusalem did to Jesus. The irony Borges uses portrays Christians as selfish, caring only to be saved from Hell.
The variety of irony allows Borges to shape his point in his short story. Reading the story from a on the surface view, “Gospel According to Mark” appears to just be a retelling of the Gospel of Saint Mark. However, seeing the irony allows the audience to understand that Borges is actually mocking followers of Christianity.