"Time is an absurdity, an abstraction. The only thing that matters is the moment." (Nolan 12). If this is true, then in the story "Memento Mori" and the movie Memento, it is ironic how the main character, Leonard, who is suffering from severe memory loss, is constantly trying to figure out the past, even though he knows he will not remember it once he learns what has happened. His wife is dead, and he is searching through a system of notes and Polaroid pictures for her killer. Though the story is unclear at first, through narration, structure, and repetition, the plot of the story becomes clearer.

The story is told in reverse order. Since the events in Memento are presented backwards, this allows the viewer to get into the mind frame of Leonard Shelby, the main character. Leonard is also the narrator of the story, and like him, the...