Memory By Kenneth Walcott Analysis Essay

As time’s clock runs its course, we often find ourselves nostalgic of times that could have been or were. Staring out across an ocean, laughing around a table filled with close friends, or taking a long walk at night humans seek reflection and question if we have proven ourselves worthy. Similar to Walcott in his poem, people begin to reflect when faced with reminders of their past. The magnitude of the narrator’s experience is clearly portrayed in his nostalgic tone and repetition of significant symbols throughout his journey. Walcott first appeals to the reader’s nostalgia through the comparison of the past and present in order to demonstrate the impact of his journey. Walcott, after describing a dark path filled with plants and ominous things quotes; “There’s childhood, and there’s …show more content…
By using certain wording the author evokes a reaction of nostalgia but in his particular case, nostalgia that does not bring back happy memories. The narrators’ reflection of their childhood and the indirect comparison to their current lives projects their journey as bittersweet. To the narrators, the storyteller is an escape from reality and a constant in the children's’ fluctuating upbringing. In addition with the ominous past memories being brought back, the author treats the experience as a time to emphasize reflection and contrast the good and bad memories. The distinction of past and present is accentuated especially in the opening line of the poem. The line: “the frenzy of an old snake shedding its skin,”entails that renewal is an important piece of the journey. It seems that returning and heading towards the storytellers home conjures unwanted memories, the “renewal” is difficult and requires reliving the