All But My Life Analysis

Being forced to abandon a safe haven can cause one to hopelessly cling to the memories created there. In Gerda Klein’s memoir, All But My Life, she and her family are forced to leave their house. In this excerpt, she wanders throughout her garden for one last time. She then starts to reminisce about all the memories created there and realizes that her life will never be the same again, she has truly lost the innocence that her childhood once possessed. Through the use of concrete diction and juxtaposing imagery, Klein establishes a nostalgic yet sorrowful tone to illustrate how one can cling to their past yet cannot avoid the inevitable future, which causes them to see the world around them in a new light. Through the use of juxtaposing imagery, Klein shows how her view of her once beloved garden has changed dramatically as she has grown older and witnessed firsthand how cruel and unforgiving life can be. She begins with describing her “beloved garden” with “young fresh grass” and “rich moist soil” and then continues on to recount a piece …show more content…
She is clueless to what her future holds so she clings to her past memories for comfort. By utilizing sensory details to describe her surroundings, the freshness and colors of her flowers, Klein is focusing on the beauty of the garden, trying to ignore her impending departure and the harsh reality of her current situation. When she is sitting on her old tree swing,” pretend[ing] that nothing has happened”, she begins to relive a past memory of her family gathered around the kitchen table together, eating breakfast. Klein vividly describes the scene that is occurring in her mind- the hot coffee, the crumbs scattered on the table cloth, her mother talking about beautiful violets- to distract herself from the sadness that comes with acknowledging the grave uncertainty of her