This week’s read of Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood” I found the most challenging so far to follow the story. Initially after reading the introduction, announcing there are two alternate texts I was intrigued. Despite my confusion with separating the two texts the change between italics helped me figure it out. Oddly enough, I also noticed that I am the type of person that mentally reads it in a different tone when it changes to italics.
One story was based on the fictional tale of W island while the other was an autobiography of the narrator’s childhood. I was more intrigued with the autobiography portion of this read. One part that stood out to me was when the narrator stated, “ I have no childhood memories” (pg.6). I felt sympathy for the narrator, no memories of his deceased parents would be challenging to recover from. On-Page 29, it really hit me when the narrator said “I am comforted a little by knowing he possessed sensitivity and intelligence”. A common method for grief is to reflect and cherish the happy moments but I couldn’t imagine how to feel if I couldn’t remember any moments. Another part that stood out to me through the theme of memories is, “I don’t know where the break is in the threads that tie me to my childhood. Like everyone else, or almost everyone, I had a father and a mother, a potty, a cot, a rattle, and, later on, a bicycle which apparently I never mounted without screaming with terror at the mere thought that someone might try to raise or even remove the two small side-wheels which kept me stable. Like everyone else, I have forgotten everything about the earliest years of my existence” (pg.12). This quote made me think of my own childhood and how memories start to gap. I was fascinated by the concept of how something can seem so clear one moment but then the accuracy seems to fade as we remember. This then made me wonder is that what the narrator is trying to convey in the first part of the quote about the “break in the tie”.
There was a part of this read where it was a list of 26 things about his parents and family members. I found that section really interesting to read and especially this last sentence, “[t]heir memory is dead in writing; writing is the memory of their death and the assertion of my life” (pg. 42).
The questions I pose to the class, why do you think memories seem to fade over time? In this instance, do you think the narrator lost or chose to block out his childhood memories as a coping mechanism?
Hi! Great blog post! I believe it is a combination of memories fading mixed with the blocking out of grief. Certain things are better off unknown or unremembered at times.
Thanks so much!
Sadie
Hi Arielle!
I definitely thought that these “lost” childhood memories were repressed as a form of coping mechanism. I think that with an upbringing as difficult as the one described in the book, it might be hard to come into terms with those traumatic experiences and sometimes its easier for the person to choose to block them out.
Hello! thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂 to answer your question, I definitely think it was a result of past trauma, losing both parents at such a young age would have to have some sort of detrimental impact on someone’s memory and mental state.