The Circular Ruins
In “The Circular Ruins,” the man
experiences repetition and became “disturbed by a sense that all this had
happened before.” In the end, it turns out that the protagonist himself is
also a part of someone else’s dream, just like how he created his son in his
dream. Complex multiple dimensions of dreams combined with repetition are labyrinth-like.
The Lottery in Babylon
In “The Lottery in Babylon,” the author allows its
audience to see many similar factors between lottery and labyrinth. Lottery and
labyrinth consist of series of choices, and they are
followed by inconsistent lucky or punishing outcomes. Also, their forms are similar in regards to “No decision is final; all branch into others.” No one knows the “truth” about
the Company because people are incapable of seeing the overall picture or the
absolute “truth.” They can only make conjectures. Similarly, people trapped
within the labyrinth are incapable of viewing the whole picture; they can only
follow their guess. and hope that it would be the right one. It is mentioned in
the text that, “Babylon is nothing but an infinite game of chance,” and so is
labyrinth in a sense that every choice made within labyrinth is a lottery.
A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain
“A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain” explores
the labyrinth-like form of Herbert Quain’s literature works. His plot confuses
and surprises its audience by tricking people into believing that the solution
mentioned in the end is the right one while allowing the audience to go back
and discover another solution which turns out to be the correct one. Also, his
most original work “April-March” is very complex in the way the story is told
because it is ramifying and regressive, just like how someone who is trapped in a
labyrinth always has to go back and correct one’s decision in the midst of
confusion and infinity.
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