Memory

The novel prominently features multiple character arcs that function in relation to memory and personal narrativization, and through these character arcs, the novel portrays subjective memory as a fundamental element of the formation of self-identity. The novel examines memory as, in part, being a subjective exercise in structuring one’s relationship to one’s own past. For Sarah, her novel appears to be a major element of this process. Sarah writes a supposedly fictional narrative that is based heavily on her own teenage experiences. Despite protests to the contrary—such as when David says of the David character in Sarah’s book, “It’s not me. It’s fiction” (199)—the overall story portrays Sarah’s novel as an exercise in emotional mediation of her own past. Through the light fictionalization of real events, Sarah dramatizes her own emotional journey as a means of gaining ownership and...