Theme of the Traitor and the Hero (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Jorge Luis Borges
- First Published: 1944
- Type of Plot: Mystery and detective
- Time of Work: 1944, 1924, and the early nineteenth century
- Setting: Ireland
- Principal Characters: An unnamed narrator, Ryan, Fergus Kilpatrick, James Alexander Nolan
- Genres: Short fiction, Mystery and detective literature
- Subjects: Detectives, Assassination, Fate or fatalism, Ireland or Irish people
- Locales: Ireland
The Story
On the eve of the rebellion in Ireland in the year 1824, Fergus Kilpatrick, a patriot, is assassinated. One hundred years later, his great-grandson, Ryan, who is compiling a biography of the hero's life, tries to discover the identity of the assassin. His search entails the examination of historical records that prove to be enigmatic rather than illuminating. The contents of these documents recall episodes and characters from literature. For example, an unopened letter found on the cadaver forewarned of the assassination attempt in the same way that Calpurnia's...
[The entire page is 1364 words long]
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