childhood – RMST 202 Blogs

I have to start by saying this book is nothing like any book I have read before in the fact that there aren’t just two stories going on, but one being an autobiography and the other being fiction. In saying this, I did not enjoy the stories as much as I was hoping to, as I was often confused as the author jumped between the two stories. I also had difficulty in piecing the two stories together, and understanding why the author chose to combine them.

Of the two stories, I was definitely more drawn to Perec’s autobiography of his childhood. It was really interesting to me that the idea of memory was a recurring theme throughout the story, as Perec chose to write a story about his childhood, while not having remembered a large portion of it. His loss of memory is demonstrated multiple times throughout the entire story, as we read on page 28 “The memories I have of my father are not many.” and again on page 122 “(that doesn’t mean she didn’t come: it means I don’t remember).” I almost felt like it was necessary for the author to recount his memories from his childhood, in an attempt to understand and cope with what he went through. As both of his parents were taken from him due to the war, where his father died fighting and his mother died in the Auschwitz concentration camp, it is quite obvious the pain and trauma that Perec endured as a child that could have caused some gaps in his memory. I felt sympathy for Perec as not having many childhood memories, especially ones with your deceased parents, would be tough to deal with throughout your life. “For years, I took comfort in such an absence of history: its objective crispness, its apparent obviousness, its innocence protected me; but what did they protect me from…” I feel that this line is a good illustration to what I had previously stated. His recollection of memories shows how he is trying to come to terms with what he went through as a child, which seems like something he had not previously done. In order to protect himself. He also talks a bit about how he imagines his parents would be if they had lived, which I think is another way of showing how he had attempted to cope with the situations he was put through.

My questions for this week:

Why do you think Perec chose to include the story of W along with his autobiography?

What relationship did those two stories share?

This week’s reading was a bit difficult for me to fully understand the message around the story. For my blog post this week, I decided to focus in on the message surrounding the authors desire for affection from his mother, and memories.

A big theme for the story was the idea of memories. Proust touches on many memories pertaining to his childhood, with emphasis on his time spent in Combray. A reoccuring theme in the story that really stuck out to me was his desire to gain attention and affection from his mother. He describes his anxieties surrounding his bedtime, as it was unclear to him whether he would receive a bedtime kiss from his mother- something that brought great importance to him. I believe this desire for attention and affection grew from the lack of it he received daily in his household. He seems to long for the intimate moments he can share with his mother- a place where he feels comfortable showing vulnerability, especially when it comes to emotion. He relies heavily on his mother for attention as his father seems to believe that he can deal with his anxieties himself, without always relying on his mother. I feel that heightened Proust’s anxieties even more as he felt he did not always have someone to turn to in times of stress, which eventually builds up those feelings more and more until he is unable to hold them in any longer.

Another core memory Proust touches on is the madeleine and tea that brought him back to his childhood in Combray. He describes the taste of the madeleine bringing him back. I found his description of how the madeleine brought him back to his childhood interesting because he has seen these madeleines many times throughout the years, but it is not until he tastes one that he is brought back in time. He emphasizes on how senses such as taste and smell stick with you throughout your life “like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping…” Which I think is an interesting view he has on his own recollection of memories. However, unlike his memories about his anxieties surrounding affection from his mother, the madeleine brought him joyful memories that he was able to reminisce on his time spent in Combray.

Throughout this reading, I wondered if everyone or almost everyone would be able to recall a certain scent or flavor that brings them back to a certain time in their past.

Tag: childhood

Georges Perec “W, or the Memory of Childhood”

Proust “Combray”