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The Catholic Influences Of Jorge Luis Borges The Immortal

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The Catholic Influences of Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Immortal” "The Immortal" is a short story by Jorge Luis Borges that follows the life of a Roman imperial tribune named Marcus Flaminius Rufus, who is cursed with immortality. Despite infinite time to derive purpose, Flavius struggles to find meaning in his existence. Flavius eventually desires to return to his mortal state. Through his encounters with other immortals and a timeless journey, Rufus comes to realize the importance of mortality and resolves himself to seek out his inevitable death. Borges touches on themes of mortality, time, and purpose in this thought-provoking story. Jorge Luis Borges' "The Immortal" explores the fundamental reality of human mortality and its implications on the human condition through Marcus Flaminius Rufus, an immortal character whose sense of meaninglessness contrasts the importance of mortality. The story's purpose can be greatly enhanced by drawing parallels from Catholic theology through the scripture of the Gospels and "Dante's Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. Marcus Flaminius Rufus, the protagonist of "The Immortal", is cursed with immortality. He is born in Rome during the reign of Emperor Tiberius around 200 CE. Once he gains immortality, he lives for centuries but remains trapped in his mortality. Flavius describes immortal …show more content…

Limbo is a fairly pleasant region of Hell reserved for righteous pagans or those that were never saved but never committed a grave sin. This serves as a sort of middle-ground afterlife between the good that is in Heaven and the evil that is in Hell, but still resides within Hell geographically. Those in Limbo remain in Limbo for eternity, similar to those on Earth that might receive immortality. The only punishment for those sent to Limbo is the soul's deprivation of God and Heaven. Virgil in Dante’s “Inferno” is acts much like Rufus in that he provides insight in to the world of Limbo

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