Memory

One of the major themes of the story, and indeed of Proust's work more generally, is the phenomenon of memory and personal recollection. "Young Girls" is written from the perspective of an adult narrator who reflects on his adolescence growing up in a town called "C." The narrator inhabits the mind of his younger self, presenting readers with an intimate portrait of childhood naiveté at the same time he describes his past in quite detailed terms. The structure of the story is therefore predicated on the concept that one can remember well the emotions they experienced in the past, at the same time they can recognize the problems with those emotions and even highlight them as misguided.

Because of the detail with which the story is presented, it is easy for readers to forget that it is being recounted from the memory of an adult male...