Thanksgiving Memory Is a Tricky

¶ … Thanksgiving

Memory is a tricky thing. Two people who witness the same event or take part in the same experience can develop two (or even more) very distinct and different memories of it; it is not that necessarily that they will remember things with greater or lesser accuracy, but they remember things with different emphases and perspectives. The incredibly personal and subjective nature of memory means that every personality and individual will recollect and retell things in drastically different ways. In addition, the way in which these memories are presented can have a large impact on the way the events described are perceived by the reader/listener. That is, the form in which a memory is retold and conveyed to an outside party (one that was not a participant in the creation of the memory) will, to a large and perhaps even almost total degree, influence the way in which the event described is perceived and remembered by the non-participant. This relationship between memory and its retelling provides a prime example of the relationship that exists between the form and content of any text.

At the same time as the retelling of a memory can have an effect on how the listener/reader perceives the event/incident retold, the retelling of a memory can also involve major changes in the way the teller -- that is, the original holder of the memory -- perceives it. The choices made in how to present the memory do not only stem from how the memory is perceived, they also change it by making more definite resolutions about that memory than perhaps existed prior to its telling. In the interior of one's mind, memory can often be vague and almost shapeless. There might be strong impressions of emotions and semi-connected events and impressions, but there is often not a logical narrative attached to memories. This is especially true of truly meaningful events, which often seem to stand alone in their significance.

All individual memories are in actuality connected; an individual is made up of their consecutive memories and experiences. This is made very clear in Sarah Vowell's "The First Thanksgiving." Her telling is hugely influenced by her family's history, which is made clear in the large amount of space devoted in this piece to the experiences and characters that make up her family that occurred prior to the actual incident of the Thanksgiving being described in the piece. The entire piece is set up by Vowell's early statement that "there's a tacit agreement in my family" to avoid almost all topics of conversation for fear that a disagreement will arise (Vowell par. 2). The entire memory of this particular Thanksgiving gathering -- or at least, this telling of that particular memory -- is entirely colored by this overriding perspective. Everything that is included in the telling is necessarily filtered through this notion of Vowell's family's dynamics, both for Vowell and for each of her readers.

At the same time, the retelling of a memory or indeed of any story requires a huge amount of details to be left out. That is, just as it is impossible to retell a memory (or tell a story) with true objectivity, it is impossible to tell the "full" story of any given incident. There is simply too much that goes on in any given incident to be recaptured and accurately retold in a concise manner, and in addition there may be many conflicting details that seem to have opposing effects on the overall perception of an event. Each memory/story is necessarily retold from a certain more narrow perspective. In the case of Vowell's essay, this perspective is the basic understanding of her family that she provides in the opening paragraphs of her story; only the incidents that relate to this perspective are included in her telling.

Knowing that this limitation/narrowing of focus is a natural and necessary result of storytelling and writing in general can provide many useful ways to allow readers into my own writing. The perspective/focus of a telling could -- and almost certainly should -- be consciously decided before the writing is begun, possibly even in the brainstorming stages of the writing process. The various elements of a story that fit the perspective/focus chosen can then be identified and arranged into a logical narrative. It is important, and something of a relief, to know that all parts of a story cannot be told, and that one shouldn't even try to do such a thing. By limiting the perspective of a piece of writing, one is actually given more freedom to fully explore the notions and concepts raised by that perspective and that telling, instead of becoming bogged down and effectively imprisoned in an attempt to say everything about a subject/story.