The "Garden of Forking Paths" by Jorge Borges is a fictional narrative about Chinese spy Yu Tsun, who works for the German army. The story presented is Yu Tsun's confession when the British capture him. His confession is missing two pages and is written before he is sentenced to death. The story begins in media res, as Yu Tsun is running away from an Irishman who serves the English army. Throughout the narrative, Yu Tsun converses about various philosophical ideologies. Specifically, he discusses the concepts of time and labyrinths, and how they are related. Borges, in a way, represents this concept in his narrative.
The story starts with Yu Tsun, escaping from the British army on a train. This part of the story is rushed as he makes his getaway. However, once escapes on the train, it seems as if he has an infinite amount of time on his hand. This occurs as he discusses labyrinths and theories of time with Albert. He coins the term "the garden of forks" and talks about such philosophical concepts with Albert in ease of time. It makes it seem as if the British were never hunting him down at all. This greatly contrasts to the fast paced chase scene in the starting of the narrative. However, once Richard Madden (the Irish spy) finds him once again, the story suddenly changes its pace again. This contrast between the two perceptions of time is shown through the contrast of location as well. The city was sudden and fast while the country, more rural areas were calmer and it seemed like Yu Tsun had all the time in the world. A quote from the narrative is, "For an undetermined period of time I felt myself cut off from the world, an abstract spectator.Going down the gently sloping road I could not feel fatigue. The evening was at once intimate and infinite" (20). Yu Tsun no longer has this fast paced sense of time as he tries to find Dr. Albert. In a sense, he goes through a maze of paths that take him to Dr.
