The Library of Babel
The library of Babel is an almost infinite collection of books, comprised of identical hexagonal rooms. Each book corresponds to some combination of 25 characters with a length of exactly 410 pages. Since every book is a combination of some characters, most of them don't make any sense. However, it is known that there is a unique book for every person that tells him about his future, but, because of the size of the library, no one can find it. Most people spend most of their life in a futile search for the meaningful book but never succeed in their journey.
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"I have just written the word "infinite". I hereby state that it is not illogical to think that the world is infinite. Those who believe it to have limits hypothesize that in some remote place or places the corridors and staircases and hexagons may, inconceivably, end — which is absurd. And yet those who picture the world as unlimited forget that the number of possible books is not. I will be bold enough to suggest this solution to the ancient problem: The Library is unlimited but periodic. If an eternal traveler should journey in any direction, he would find after untold centuries that the same volumes are repeated in the same disorder-which, repeated, becomes order: the Order. My solitude is cheered by that elegant hope"
("The library of Babel", p. 7)
The metaphor for universe
How this metaphor helps us to understand our world
1. The room for improvement
The Library makes us think about how little we know about the universe and how much we can still explore. Just like every person in the Library sees only a very small part of the whole picture, humanity also understands only a tiny part of nature, cosmos, and universe laws.
2. Hope for success
Borges suggests that the Library is unlimited but periodic, which means that there is a chance that humanity someday will fully explore it. This belief can be implemented almost in every aspect of our life: even when the task looks enormously big and unyielding, there is always hope of solving it.
Familiar concept in a new story
Infinity
In this story, Borges argues about the infinity concept itself. He highlights that some objects that are infinite at the same time could be divided into similar and identical parts, which makes the object itself periodic and brings order and understanding. This paradox of an infinite object that always repeats itself and therefore consists of a finite number of unique components could be used in many parts of our life.
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As you can see, this is another interpretation of infinity and another great story filled with metaphors, allegories, and interpretations