The discovery of oneself occurs in the memoir of Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club, which is based on a true story as far as the author can recall. The focus is not a whole life account like an autobiography, but a story in the author’s life. The memoir asks the reader to take a lens into truth, memory and how the past connects to the future. Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club events matter to the reader because they deal with rape, alcoholism and a mother that is nervous in East Texas. So, what matters and doesn’t matter about truth may all be in the perspective of the author, narrator and most importantly the reader. Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club focuses on childhood memories and the memoir has minor embellishments of the truth to create a connection for
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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