Where Are You My Mother Analysis

While Foer and Bechdel go about their writing processes in different ways. their combined insight on the art of remembering add light to the mechanics of literary composition on memory (or vice-versa) as a whole. Both authors aim to preserve what they deem a lost element within memory. Foer attacks writing as an enabler for forgetting facts, as Bechdel is holding onto writing as the preserver for her own emotionally tied memories. Though they seem to be on opposing ends of the spectrum, each writer carries a portion of the other’s sentiments in order to carry out their own pieces. For Foer, trying to remember is at the core of writing. As for Bechdel, writing is essential to remember. Although Foer passionately argues against the role writing …show more content…
In order to “delve” into her memories, Bechdel must first record her thoughts and then perform self-psychoanalysis. “Are You My Mother” illustrates the elements of this process, following Bechdel as she recalls, analyzes and criticizes her own memories and thoughts. Bechdel can be seen trying to tap into her unconscious at every chance, through her psychoanalysis session with her therapist, as well as in recording her dreams. Reminiscent of Freudian methodology, she recounts her childhood experiences in order to draw out metamemories. Bechdel’s writing on her childhood does not serve as simple chronicles. Her work is a live piece, and in her self-reflection, Bechdel raises a self-awareness of manifestations that she would have otherwise failed to comprehend. Her epiphany on the end of her childhood is an instance of this. She connects the sequence of emotions in her baby pictures with that of the plight of her youth, as well as that of her mother’s. Bechdel then continues to draw relations from her past to the origin of her current relationship with her mother. “I started seeing how the transcendent would almost always creep into the everyday.” (Foer 105) To draw inference is a human trait, and the entire ordeal is unique to each individual. Different subjects have varying levels of significance to different people. While the average person may not care for Donald Winnicott, Bechdel finds herself strongly connected to this particular psychoanalyst, even wishing that he was her father. This is due in part to her relationship with her emotionally estranged mother as well as the absence of a reliable father figure. Stemming from an area of sensitivity and emotional turmoil, Winnicott 's musings of "The Devoted Mother", strike a personal chord with