The Memory Police has a seemingly simple enough plot – a woman watches parts of her world disappear thanks to the mysterious Memory Police. She tries to hold on, but then as more things disappear, it becomes harder. One day she begins to disappear, and she does.
But The Memory Police holds a special place in my heart. As someone who struggles with memory issues, this book felt like looking at my life. I forget my most precious memories, and the only way to hold on to them is through the physical records. The way the author doesn’t remember and needs help reminds me a lot of myself – so much it’s scary.
But The Memory Police is just that at its heart – a fantastical story (with some weird moments (what in the name of Merlin was that affair scene?) about losing those precious moments in life, until we lose ourselves as time goes by. Memories shape us as a person – who are we without our memories? It’s a tough question to answer, and Yoko Ogawa, in my opinion, captures it perfectly.
We are nothing.
Our memories shape us because without those important life experiences, we are nothing. This is easily represented by the fact when our narrator has nothing of their personality left, they begin to fade away. And that describes the magic and individuality behind each person;we as a person fade away when our memories do.
So maybe The Memory Police isn’t about genocide or a stern warning about dictatorship and uniformity; it’s a lesson that without our memories shaping us, we are simply nothing but thin air.
I really enjoyed your thought process about this story. We really are nothing without our memories and as those fade so do we since they shape our experiences.