A first-hand account such as a memoir gives the author a chance to analyze the truth behind her memories. Eyewitness accounts are highly inaccurate and several witnesses in the same place and time can have many different accounts of the same scene even a tragic event (MADEO). The memoir’s truth lies within the author and the reader must trust the stories they say at face value. Memoir is a gamble and the reader is in the author’s casino. The lens of the memoir involves truth, memory and how past, memories are connected to the future or present self. Truth and lies are in the memoir. The workings of memory in the memoir are evident in the first rape of Mary Karr. She tells of the rape at the age of seven and then talks to the rapist directly giving the reader a connection to past and present (66). While there may be some fictional elements in the memoir they are based on true events and create a complete working memory for the reader from the author’s perspective. The only fictional part is the fillers of information such as changing the name of her hometown and protecting certain people’s because Mary said, “Those characters deserved privacy” (Fortini). The reader will determine what each event means to them and what it reveals about themselves. Alteration is not the same as
A first-hand account such as a memoir gives the author a chance to analyze the truth behind her memories. Eyewitness accounts are highly inaccurate and several witnesses in the same place and time can have many different accounts of the same scene even a tragic event (MADEO). The memoir’s truth lies within the author and the reader must trust the stories they say at face value. Memoir is a gamble and the reader is in the author’s casino. The lens of the memoir involves truth, memory and how past, memories are connected to the future or present self. Truth and lies are in the memoir. The workings of memory in the memoir are evident in the first rape of Mary Karr. She tells of the rape at the age of seven and then talks to the rapist directly giving the reader a connection to past and present (66). While there may be some fictional elements in the memoir they are based on true events and create a complete working memory for the reader from the author’s perspective. The only fictional part is the fillers of information such as changing the name of her hometown and protecting certain people’s because Mary said, “Those characters deserved privacy” (Fortini). The reader will determine what each event means to them and what it reveals about themselves. Alteration is not the same as