12th of June – Summary of Anthony Doerr’s ‘Memory Wall’ by John Telensky

This week’s session was led by Helene Neveu Kringelbach

The summary of the discussion is written by John Telensky

For this session we focused on the first short story in the Memory Wall collection by Anthony Doerr. The eponymous work follows Alma, a South African woman suffering from Dementia, and her cyclical routine involving the retrieval and immortalisation of her memories at a clinic that she often visits. In a world where it is possible to extract and store memories on plastic cartridges that can be viewed by almost anyone, Doerr explores the concepts of remembrance, time and preservation whilst expertly intertwining commentary on South Africa’s harrowing past through the lives of the characters that populate his narrative. Lingering racial disparity manifests itself in the tribulations of Alma’s black helper, Pheko, as well as the character of Luvo whose vicarious existence through Alma’s memories leads one to question the integrity and intimacy of the past. The dynamic that exists between the various characters as well as the persistent use of metaphor to engage with themes of racism and apartheid create a story that is truly unique.

While in some ways a relic of the past, there is no denying that the vestiges of Apartheid still linger in modern South Africa society. The abject poverty and ludicrous wealth that often separates black from white is ever-present in Doerr’s novel and the implementation of apartheid rhetoric was often brought up during our discussion. Nods to the Truth and Reconciliation committee can be found in the character of Dr Amnesty, whose name and desire to “fill in” the blanks in the memory of those with dementia echoes the endeavour of the committee to uncover all the horrors of the regime that were hidden and “fill in the gaps” of South Africa’s history. Indeed, many of the memories that Alma preserves illustrate sentiments of white superiority and disgust towards Africans; for instance, Alma being scolded as a child for drinking from the same bottle of Coca Cola as her black housemaid. With no recollection of any kind of personal past and a pitifully short life expectancy due to an operation enabling him to read and view memory cartridges, Luvo also arouses sympathy as he lives through the memories of Alma day by day. His daily break-ins to spend hours sifting through a past that is not his showcases a man living in the shadow of someone else, as was the case of many Africans living in the shadows of their white counterparts.

Another significant aspect of discussion was the notion of relics and the overtly physical portrayal of the past within the story. Fossils play a substantial role in the novel, being a reflection of the permanence and preservation that time offers to a select few. Luvo himself notes that ‘It is the rarest thing, that gets preserved, and that does not get erased”, and it is this selective preservation that can also be applied to the wider theme of remembrance. Try as we might, only some memories can be recalled whilst others simply fade away.

Deep History also carries with it the cynical undertones of human insignificance and the notion that we are all part of a world that is constantly changing and evolving. Our short time on earth means that we can achieve little in the grand scheme of things, yet we should at least be entitled to live a full and dignified life regardless. There was some contention within our group as to whether such themes frame human life as an object of importance that should be protected and sustained or whether they devalue it completely. Luvo’s initially difficult lifestyle and state of ennui has him working for a robber who breaks into the house of Alma every evening and scanning through her collection of memories. This is done to find clues as to the whereabouts of an expensive fossil that her husband was searching for before passing away. Upon eventually finding the necessary information and witnessing the murder of his thieving chaperone he is left with the means to amass a fortune for himself which he promptly does so by excavating The Gorgon. The concept of going on a journey to obtain a large fortune at its conclusion mirrors that of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and where intertextuality is concerned, one can draw parallels between the characters of Jim Hawkins and Luvo. Indeed, the book itself is referenced many times throughout Doerr’s story with its pages being pasted all across the titular Memory Wall in conjunction with various memory cartridges. Perhaps the events of the story are in fact intended to showcase a journey that each character must undertake in order to reach their final destination.

What the end point of each character’s development signifies is a matter of perspective, however. Alma finishes her journey in a home for the elderly with her dementia reaching its final stages, the sterile white room in which she resides echoing a kind of purity and finality. Throughout the story we have viewed some of her most intimate memories and perhaps even engaged on a personal level with her past, with Luvo acting as a kind of conduit between the her and the reader. Yet, one of the questions that came up during our discussion was whether the story and its themes would change if it were a white woman probing the memories of a black man. One cannot know for sure, yet it is interesting to question how race often plays an important role in literature in determining the social, financial and moral positions of certain characters. Pheko’s story ends with him spending some money that was given to him by Luvo to obtain a membership to a Virgin Active swimming pool and taking his son on one of the slides. It seems that Pheko, whilst struggling to support his son throughout the novel, has finally reached a stage in which he can live out a somewhat fulfilled life. Although, some were quick to question whether Luvo or Pheko would be able to reach the same destination without the knowledge of a wealthy white woman. This is a difficult question to answer, however, and is one that once again displays how representations of race can create and alter a narrative.

Questions of race, time, memory and self-preservation all had a strong presence in our discussion and were what led me to thoroughly enjoy this first story in Doerr’s collection. It’s ability to construct a compelling narrative on top of South Africa’s rich history enables it to engage with the reader in such a way that makes them appreciate the cultural significance of apartheid in modern day society, which is only further accentuated through the abundance of retrospectivity and allusion to a past in which the ideals of the regime were fully realised. The use of fossils and cartridges as metaphors for the desire to preserve oneself and escape the ephemeral human condition enable profound discussion on how and why history and the past play such a fundamental part in shaping the present and future. Ultimately, it is this intriguing presentation of time and history as well as the many ways in which it can be interpreted that make Doerr’s story so unique and compelling. The fact that there was so much to discuss and dissect only emphasises how interesting and thought provoking the short story is and it is precisely this ability to make us ask questions that we would previously not consider that makes it something I would recommend.