Water as Motif

Throughout Memory of Water, the author uses recurring references to and descriptions of water in order to develop her explorations concerning connectivity, life cycles, and renewal. Within the opening passages of each new section of the novel, the first person narrator Noria remarks upon her close relationship with the water element. In Part One, Chapter 1, for example, Noria recalls her father telling her that “Water is the most versatile of all elements,” in that it “walks with the moon and embraces the earth, and it isn’t afraid to die in fire or live in air” (5). In the opening lines of Parts Two and Three, Noria reiterates these notions, particularly remarking upon water’s close relationship with death. These repeating notions underscore the significance of water to Noria’s sense of reality and of self.

The repeating images of water throughout the novel are...