THe memory battle
Kory Damewood
Amber Lemiere
English 101
1-7-2014
The Memory Battle
What would life be like with no memories? Would one individual still love the other individual even if they couldn't remember anything about that person? In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind directed by Michel Gondry, Joel and Clementine had many memories of one another, some pleasant and some not so pleasant. They also had love for each other that no one else could have. Something might be gone but it's not impossible to gain it back. In Memory Wall: Stories by Anthony Doerr, Alma suffers through losing her memories; Allison suffers from the loss of her parents. Memories are worth holding onto because you don't know what you have until it's gone.
A man named Joel meets a woman named Clementine. They fall madly in love and have great times together. Eventually though they start to fight quite often. Clementine has her memory erased by choice and this confuses Joel because she doesn't remember who Joel is. This leads to him getting his own memory erased because he can't stand the pain of her not remembering who he is while Joel remembers everything. During the process, Joel tries to hold onto the memories because of the love he has for her and he doesn't want to let those memories go. Even after the memories are cleaned out, the two find each other again from the love they have for each other. Unfortantly they recieve the tapes of their interviews when they had their memories erased. These tapes had hurtful things on them about each other that Joel and Clementine said. Even hearing what each person said about one another, they still wanted to work them out to be together.
How could we function each day if we did not have memories? It seems like we would have to learn everything like new every single day. Both Joel and Clementine tried to forget the memories of one another from all the fighting. They both thought they would be happy without the memories of each other even though they loved each other with all their hearts. As soon as the doctors try taking the memories out of Joel, he fights to keep them with all his might. Joel knows what he will be missing if he loses his memories. He doesn't want to lose the memories of Clementine. If he loses the memories of Clementine there is a chance that Joel will never see her again. Memories have more meaning to us even when we don't think they do.
"Only know you love her when you let her go," Passenger. An individual doesn't know they love someone until they finally let them go. Clementine is a spontanious person, acting in the moment without real thought to her actions. While Joel isn't much like that, he chose to have his memory erased because he was in pain. While having this done Joel realizes how much he wants to keep those memories and tries to come up with anything he can to keep them. Even with Clementines memory gone she realizes that something is missing in her life. When the other guy tries to sweep Clementine off her feet, she has a feeling that something is not right with this guy. Her love of Joel never left her, Joel still has her heart even when she can't remember who Joel is. No matter how hard we want to try, love just doesn't go away.
Even if something is gone, it's always possible to get it back. Joel and Clementine lost each other. They had no memories of each other whatsoever. It would seem impossible to find someone again once they're gone but true love never goes away. Both of them had feelings of important places to them and both ended up going to those places at the exact same time. That is how they found each other again. They might of had to start the relationship all over again but they found each other which was once lost. Mary had her memory erased about Howard but ended up finding her love for him again without any memories about him. All though Mary found her love for Howard again, he is married which is why she had her memories deleted about him in the first place. Never give up on something which is lost, it can always be found again.
In Memory Wall: Stories by Anthony Doerr, Alma has dementia and most of her memories are wiped clean away from her. She watches her own memories that shes forgotten through a machine that plays her memories through cartridges. If our memories are lost then how do we even know what we're missing? Alma is missing her actions even right after she does something. "A moment ago Alma was, she is certain, doing something very important. Something life-and-death. But now she cannot remember what it was" (Doerr 2). In the same novel, a girl named Allison lost her parents because of cancer. Allison is only 15 and she only has 15 years worth of memories of her parents. "Every hour the Big Sadness hangs behind my ribs, sharp and gleaming, and it's all I can do to keep breathing" (Doerr 164). Allison can probably appreciate how important memories can be because that's all she has now of her parents. People don't realize how important memories are until they are gone.
No matter how hard the struggle, memories are worth holding onto because we don't know what we have until we don't have it anymore. Joel and Clementine made many memories with each other. Memories that they wish would never go away and that they could live in that moment forever. Some not so much, some they wish would just go away and never come back. The love they have for each other will never be lost, no matter what the cost. If something is lost, don't give up on finding it again. Memory Wall: Stories teaches us the importance of memories.
Work Cited:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Dir. Michel. Gondry. Perf. Jim Carrey, and Kate Winslet. 2004. DVD.
Doerr, Anthony. Memory Wall: Stories. New York: Scribner, 2012.
Kindle e-book.
Amber Lemiere
English 101
1-7-2014
The Memory Battle
What would life be like with no memories? Would one individual still love the other individual even if they couldn't remember anything about that person? In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind directed by Michel Gondry, Joel and Clementine had many memories of one another, some pleasant and some not so pleasant. They also had love for each other that no one else could have. Something might be gone but it's not impossible to gain it back. In Memory Wall: Stories by Anthony Doerr, Alma suffers through losing her memories; Allison suffers from the loss of her parents. Memories are worth holding onto because you don't know what you have until it's gone.
A man named Joel meets a woman named Clementine. They fall madly in love and have great times together. Eventually though they start to fight quite often. Clementine has her memory erased by choice and this confuses Joel because she doesn't remember who Joel is. This leads to him getting his own memory erased because he can't stand the pain of her not remembering who he is while Joel remembers everything. During the process, Joel tries to hold onto the memories because of the love he has for her and he doesn't want to let those memories go. Even after the memories are cleaned out, the two find each other again from the love they have for each other. Unfortantly they recieve the tapes of their interviews when they had their memories erased. These tapes had hurtful things on them about each other that Joel and Clementine said. Even hearing what each person said about one another, they still wanted to work them out to be together.
How could we function each day if we did not have memories? It seems like we would have to learn everything like new every single day. Both Joel and Clementine tried to forget the memories of one another from all the fighting. They both thought they would be happy without the memories of each other even though they loved each other with all their hearts. As soon as the doctors try taking the memories out of Joel, he fights to keep them with all his might. Joel knows what he will be missing if he loses his memories. He doesn't want to lose the memories of Clementine. If he loses the memories of Clementine there is a chance that Joel will never see her again. Memories have more meaning to us even when we don't think they do.
"Only know you love her when you let her go," Passenger. An individual doesn't know they love someone until they finally let them go. Clementine is a spontanious person, acting in the moment without real thought to her actions. While Joel isn't much like that, he chose to have his memory erased because he was in pain. While having this done Joel realizes how much he wants to keep those memories and tries to come up with anything he can to keep them. Even with Clementines memory gone she realizes that something is missing in her life. When the other guy tries to sweep Clementine off her feet, she has a feeling that something is not right with this guy. Her love of Joel never left her, Joel still has her heart even when she can't remember who Joel is. No matter how hard we want to try, love just doesn't go away.
Even if something is gone, it's always possible to get it back. Joel and Clementine lost each other. They had no memories of each other whatsoever. It would seem impossible to find someone again once they're gone but true love never goes away. Both of them had feelings of important places to them and both ended up going to those places at the exact same time. That is how they found each other again. They might of had to start the relationship all over again but they found each other which was once lost. Mary had her memory erased about Howard but ended up finding her love for him again without any memories about him. All though Mary found her love for Howard again, he is married which is why she had her memories deleted about him in the first place. Never give up on something which is lost, it can always be found again.
In Memory Wall: Stories by Anthony Doerr, Alma has dementia and most of her memories are wiped clean away from her. She watches her own memories that shes forgotten through a machine that plays her memories through cartridges. If our memories are lost then how do we even know what we're missing? Alma is missing her actions even right after she does something. "A moment ago Alma was, she is certain, doing something very important. Something life-and-death. But now she cannot remember what it was" (Doerr 2). In the same novel, a girl named Allison lost her parents because of cancer. Allison is only 15 and she only has 15 years worth of memories of her parents. "Every hour the Big Sadness hangs behind my ribs, sharp and gleaming, and it's all I can do to keep breathing" (Doerr 164). Allison can probably appreciate how important memories can be because that's all she has now of her parents. People don't realize how important memories are until they are gone.
No matter how hard the struggle, memories are worth holding onto because we don't know what we have until we don't have it anymore. Joel and Clementine made many memories with each other. Memories that they wish would never go away and that they could live in that moment forever. Some not so much, some they wish would just go away and never come back. The love they have for each other will never be lost, no matter what the cost. If something is lost, don't give up on finding it again. Memory Wall: Stories teaches us the importance of memories.
Work Cited:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Dir. Michel. Gondry. Perf. Jim Carrey, and Kate Winslet. 2004. DVD.
Doerr, Anthony. Memory Wall: Stories. New York: Scribner, 2012.
Kindle e-book.
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.