Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 1, Thanks for No Memory, Ellen begins her narrative when she is a little girl in the Jefferson Parish of Louisiana, living with her family in the city of Metairie until she is around eight years old. Ellen does not remember much about her childhood and mainly recalls things that were told to her. She is amazed that some people can remember lying in their cribs. Ellen's parents are not the source of her memories. They seem a little foggy about her childhood as well. There are only a few photographs of her unlike her brother, Van who is four years older than she, who seems to have had a picture taken of him every ten seconds. Ellen finds this last fact humorous and shows no overt bitterness. However, she does mention it quite often.

In an effort to fill...