Characters from Moonwalking with Einstein
S, or "The Man Who Remembered Too Much": S is at war with remembering to much, he doesn't forget things, he has a photographic memory. The only down side to this is his memory is like a photo album and some things he has trouble comprehending. "Words like "infinity" and "nothing" were beyond his grasp" (Foer 33).
EP, or "The Most Forgetful Man in the World": EP struggles with remembering the past as well as the present. He can't make new memories or remember to old of memories. He deals with this by just going about his day and trying to function. "'He's happy all the time. Very happy. I guess it'd because he doesn't have any stress in his life,'" ( Foer 74). We can learn from this by enjoying ourselves each and everyday while trying to make new memories because we don't know when we could forget them or it's our time to pass on.
Characters from "Memory Wall"
Alma: She struggles with trying to remember so much that it could be life and death. “A moment ago Alma was, she is certain, doing something very important. Something life- and -death. but now she cannot remember what is was” (Doerr 2). Alma deals with it by using the memory cartridges daily to try and keep her memories in tack. We can learn that just because your memories are gone doesn't mean there aren't ways of getting them back. We also need to know that people may try and stop us from achieving our goals because they think it's to late.
Dr. Amnesty: Dr. Amnesty struggles with helping people with the desire to remember. He had to see people all the time who lose their memory and he tries to help them keep it. He deals with this by making memory cartridges for them so they can get hooked up to a machine to replay their old memories as far back as to when they were kids. A lesson from this is to not be afraid to help people even when it might be emotionally hard for you.
Pheko: Pheko struggles with seeing alma lose her memory. He takes care of her everyday and everyday he is polite and understanding of her condition. He deals with all of this by just being there for Alma. Being someone who takes care of her and loves her. A lesson we can learn here is to never give up on the ones we love; even when it seems they've lost everything, you can still be there for them.
Roger: Roger struggles with trying to access the memories of Alma. He needs her memories to find a rare fossil that her husband found right before he died. He deals with this by having a friend he met named Luvo access her memory cartridges to see if Luvo can find where the fossil is located. We can learn to not give up on a task of finding something because we never know how close we could be but also learn to not go to such lengths to make those findings possible.
Luvo: Luvo is at war with trying to remember because he has no idea who he is or any old memories about himself. The only thing he does know is the basic things, how to talk, eat and read. Luvo tries to find memories however he can by going places or the things he sees. We can learn to not give up on trying to find memories about ourselves even when it could take the rest of our lives.
Characters from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Joel: Joel struggles with trying to forget memories while trying to remember those memories toward the end. He deals with losing his memories by trying to hold onto them by hiding his memories in a different location to not get deleted. We can learn that we might think we want to forget something but in truth, it could be the wrong decision.
Clementine: Clementine struggles with trying to remember her past, she realizes that something isn't right with Patrick but she can't remember anything about why it doesn't feel right. She deals with this by going places where she feels have some importance in her life to maybe bring back memories. We can learn to not jump the gun to change something like Clementine did.
Patrick: Patrick struggles with making new memories from someone else's past. He deals with this by trying to make Clementine fall in love with him from how Joel made her fall in love. A lesson we can learn from this is to not steal someone else's ideas or actions to succeed in your own life to create your own outcome.
Mary: Mary struggles with trying to forget her past all over again. She got her memories deleted from her only to find her love again and find out that she already got her memories deleted from her relationship. She deals with this by sending everyone who ever got there memories deleted their info, telling them what happened with a disk that has their interview on it. We can learn to accept the changes and to also warn people to not make the same mistakes twice.
Howard: Howard struggles with trying to forget. He remembered everything with Mary and can't lose his memories of it but Mary can. He's stuck with having those painful heart loving memories. He deals with this by just going about his normal routines and acting like there isn't anything going on with Mary. We can learn from this by trying to be strong mentally and not let it ruin your work area. Also maybe it isn't the best to make things seem like they never happened because history has a way of repeating itself.
Work Cited:
Doerr, Anthony. Memory Wall: Stories. New York: Scribner, 2012.
Kindle e-book.
Foer, Joshua. Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. New York: The Penguin Press, 2011.
Kindle e-book.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Dir. Michel. Gondry. Perf. Jim Carrey, and Kate Winslet. 2004. DVD.