Beloved

Beloved tells the story of exactly what becomes of a person who lives directly through their memories. It is the story of "past errors taking possession of the present" (Morrison 302). The past, present, and future are big focuses within the novel, but it definitely outlines the idea that though one can move forward, they will always carry the weight of the past. The people they become may or may not be better people. Morrison outlines both the beneficial effects of knowing how and why things occurred in the past through Denver's character. She is able to start her own life, take care of her mother, and become an independent person because she knows that she can have better than she once did. The negative side of living too much through the past is revealed through Sethe's character. She dwells upon the murder she committed and her past experiences as a slave and can never be free. Because of this portrayal of both the positive and negative sides of living through the past, it creates a few even bigger question: though memories shape the people we become, are some people better apt to move on from bad experiences, or are there experiences that it is impossible to move away from or become changed for the better? Or do we lose aspirations to become better people if we have lived through immense troubles? Is there ever a point where we just give up and don't let ourselves transform into better or different people?

The Stranger

On the outside other's cannot see where we have been. In that way we are all strangers to one another because if we don't know another's past we don't necessarily see the true person. We are products of our past, but Mersault is a complete stranger because he does not live from ambition to ambition as most people do. He lives by the philosophy that to live life to the fullest is simply to eat breathe and die. Seeing the world, in his eyes is living, so we never hear many of his memories we just must assume where he has been. When he does speak of the past he speaks of things his mother used to say, or Marie's dress, or the look of the sky. He does speak about Maman's death, which may be considered a big event in any other person's life, but he does not seem as if it changed him in any major way. Somehow his memories turned him into a person who enjoys the simple pleasures in life, and looking back on his life he wouldn't have changed anything, which is something I think we should all yearn to live for.

"The Metamorphosis"

Franz Kafka's short story relates to my question in a different way. Gregor completely transforms, whether mentally or physically, into an entirely different persona, but this persona is the result of who he once was. He was overworked and hated his job, he provided for a family who gave nothing in return, and he had seemingly lost touch with most relations. All of these occurrences have already taken place before we are introduced to Gregor, but their results are quite prevalent. Gregor's "metamorphosis" transforms him into an almost selfish creature. His only concern is that his family will stop caring about him, and they do. In the end Gregor dies all alone.

In a way this story takes a negative spin on my question, if we live a life that we don't love and drastically change to overcome the troubles, we may overcorrect. Gregor started out a lonely man and ended all alone, it reveals the necessity for balance in life. Though adversity will arise, we must learn to live day to day in the way we desire otherwise some day it will be too late. In this way our memories will hopefully shape us in a better way, only when we want to overcome past troubles.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Stephen is the perfect example of the answer to my question. The entire novel is the story of his own self discovery from childhood to his early twenties. The minute memories that he recalls and writes about have a huge effect on the person he evolves into. As said by Stephen, "The past is consumed in the present and the present is living only because it brings forth the future" (Joyce 227). The life we live has a huge impact on the way we live out the present. It also greatly effects the directions we decide to pursue. Stephen is an artist, he is a writer, but he does not clearly decide how to live his life until his early twenties. He spends pages and pages discussing his small meetings with girls or pondering of words in his school. His constant wondering drives him in to understanding by the end of the novel. His life growing up in Catholic schools, sinning with prostitutes, and then falling completely in to faith, in turn drives him away from religion and towards his own spirituality. The university then drives him out of Ireland and towards the rest of his life. Stephen is an example of the idea that the huge events in life are not the only forming factors of our identity, it is also those small dispersive memories that have a great impact on the way we live our lives and who we become.

Playboy of the Western World

Christy Mahon is a character that almost directly answers my question. His memories gave him the aspiration to transform his identity. He didn't like who he once was, and knew exactly what he wanted to be so he convinced himself he killed his father and then picked up and left his old life. The only problem for him though, what answers my question, is that his old life follows him. His father comes along and tells the town he is not what they believe him to be. His memories, his identity, can not leave him. He has the ability to shape his life but because of who he is he can not completely recreate himself. The past will always be a part of him, even if he is different than he once was.

Though Christy's façade is shattered, at the end of the play he admits to the town that they have even played a role in transforming his character, "Ten thousand blessings upon all that's here, for you've turned me a likely gaffer in the end of all, the way I'll go romancing through a romping lifetime from this hour to the dawning of the Judgment Day" (Synge 110). The events that occurred in the play shaped him almost as much as his memories of his early life. So maybe big events in life have the same impact as earlier memories; we either like the memories so we try to achieve that same feelings again, or we dislike the memories and act differently to try to change what has become. Maybe this is how the best of people can come from the worst of circumstances, in life and in literature. We choose who we want to be based on who we were. I would not necessarily argue that Christy ended up a 'better person', but from the events in his life and his memories he has decided who he wants to be/is. And isn't that all that really matters?

King Lear

King Lear puts a different spin on my question. Lear must shed his memories in order to see what has been in front of him all along. At the beginning of the play Lear has power. This power corrupts his vision of truth, he can not see that Cordelia is the only daughter of his who honestly loves him. It is not until the end of the play when Lear finally realizes this, but it is too late. He lived his life with power, but once he no longer has that power he can see his life for what it really was. He must ignore his memories of life in power in order to determine what he should do, or maybe not ignore his memories, just realize that he needs to act differently than he once did.

At a point in the play Lear starts going mad, which brings up more questions; does madness transform memories? Or can memories be transformed on purpose? Can we ever really forget? Do our good or bad memories have a greater affect on the people we become? In the end Lear is a broken man, he reached his downfall because of everything that happened in his life. His bad memories won. But do we always fall if our bad memories preside over our good memories? Or do we prosper?

Blog uno

My question is what effect do our memories have on the people we become/ or the people we aspire to become? Self-analysis is constant, and now more than ever since we graduate at the end of the year, we are finding ourselves and realizing that we need to decide who we want to be. The future is almost in full focus right now as we decide what we want to do after high school, and our memories are part of who we are so at times we want to mimic what we once had in those memories. This question also interests me as I begin to think of my senior essay because I could not explain myself without explaining the places I have been or what I have been through. Two years ago my best friends dad passed away, and I would not be the same person I am now if I hadn't faced that adversity. I want to see how memories like this effect other people too, and I think that if you can see where a person has been you have a better glimpse into why they are the person that they are.

Oedipus exemplifies this dwelling on memories through his avoidance of the truth. His memories of his life include his father as Polybos, not Laios. This is why he doesn't believe the prophecy has come true, because his memory serves that this is not his family. He also has such a respect for his adopted parents that he would never purposefully do that to his family.

My independent study novel The Poisonwood Bible is a perfect example of an answer to my question because it shows the effect Africa and the loss of a family member has on the whole family. They each become totally different people and two even end up living very opposite lifestyles within Africa. No character can spend a day without a memory of what has occurred or what is to happen next.