I find it very interesting, how I’ll be walking down the street and see a bakery that’s selling macaroons, and a memory of eating a vanilla macaroon in Europe pops in my head that very moment. I immediately snap into this memory, not conscious of what’s happening around my surroundings in the present. Memories that I have are embedded in objects, places, people which I didn’t realize before. I feel like we all had this moment but didn’t assess the moment and reason why our mind averted to that certain memory at that time.
I didn’t notice this style of representation of memory until I read a book in my ASTU class. In my class, we were assigned to read a feminist book called Basic Black with Pearls, by Helen Weinzweig which shows the life of Shirley Kaszenbowski who has an affair with a spy named Coenraad. From cracking secret codes, she concludes that her next meet up with Coneraad is in Toronto, which happens to be where she is originally from. In Toronto, she embarks a series of memories of her past and develops relationships with people and develops worlds for them. At first, I didn’t like the book as I found it hard to accustom to the style of reading with it’s style of interpretation. However, page after page, I got accustomed to this style and I was very intrigued in the story. It is very evident throughout the book, that her life is revolved around Coenraad, which I find very frustrating because she doesn’t have a life of her own. As a feminist, I wanted Shirley to find her own self and not limit herself due to her lover, as she is facing more consequences than him. Although, at the end of the book I found the ending to be pleasing as it shows independence and the realization of self identity.
Toronto is seen as this explosive device of memory where her past is seen through her and is evident as it cannot be hidden through her black dress and pearls. An example of this is when she buys rolls at a store, but also orders Russian black bread which signifies her class. Even though she is dressed very proper which show she is upper class, the choice of bread shows how her roots which is the lower class. In my last blog, I talked about the character Nick and the significance of the swamp which was in Big Two Hearted River, written by Ernest Hemingway. Her connection with Toronto is the same as Nick’s with the swamp, both places hold memories, repressed feelings, and feel like trauma which they have to get away from. If you have no idea about what I mean about Nick and the swamp, check out my last blog which is fantastic and it will all make sense.
The memories of Toronto make her so mad as she believes she is suffering from the “blows of memory” and she imposes that if Coenraad appears she won’t be in a good mood (Weinzweig, 53). I find this quite intriguing as the memories in the city cause her so much trauma that it affects her mood towards her lover who she has an obsession with. In the novel, she confesses at one point that the reminiscing of the old streets cause her to lose focus on finding Coenraad in his disguise. These memories are so strong that it alters her perspective and her thoughts. A good example of these flashes of memories is when she looks at the City Hall tower and a “flow of images” releases of the details inside juvenile court and her mother crying (Weinzweig, 31). Just like my experience with the bakery, Shirley snaps into the past in the present just by looking at the tower. Memory is also represented through looking at postcards as it feels more colourful and sensational than the actual event. Shirley is seen as very odd as she hears background noise and smells certain scents all while looking at a certain pictures on the postcards.
Shirley or Lola as she goes by is also a spy like her lover as she disguises herself with her black dress and pearls. This image of her signifies that she is upper class and proper which convinces the people around her like the customs as she is seen as a safe women. In a sense, she is presenting herself in a veiled self which becomes unveiled in the end when she trades her black dress for a multicolour dress. This book is like a spy movie as there is a mask that is taken off, but in terms of the book, it is the protagonist mask that is being unveiled. At the end of the book, the exchange of dresses shows the representation of presenting her real self and not hiding her identity under a man.
The memories we have will always be with us no matter how old they are because they are the puzzle pieces in our life and when put together, our life story is unveiled.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my blogs as this one is my last one this term. 🙂
Weinzweig, Helen, and Sarah Weinman. Basic Black with Pearls. New York Review Books, New York, 2018.