Memory

The phrase "this is memory" reoccurs throughout the book to draw the reader's attention to one of the most important themes of the book, the role of memory in recreating the truth of the past. Over and over again, August's narrative reminds us that "this is memory." Rather than being a straightforward story that draws connections between individual moments and scenes, the story presents flashes of insight, small moments selected from August's life, to illustrate the overall trajectory of her life. In doing so, the narrative functions much in the same way memory itself does: episodic, full of missing information, impressionistic rather than realistic, and often jarred loose by other memories. The phrase "this is memory" is simultaneously a declaration of the text's importance, as in "pay attention, because this is a memory and is important to understand, and the text's imperfections. For example, when August's...