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The Old Man
The unnamed narrator’s mother was a sculptor who was part of the minority on the island that does not forget “disappeared” objects. The story heavily implies that the Memory Police killed the narrator’s mother when the narrator was a young girl. A week after complying with a summons from the (then newly-formed) Memory Police, the narrator’s mother died, and although the official cause of death was a heart attack, the narrator feels sure that her mother was killed by the state because she didn’t get rid of the objects that were supposed to be forgotten. The narrator’s mother used to tell the narrator all about disappeared objects, which she kept in a secret, hidden cabinet in her sculpting studio. The narrator loved listening to these stories, even if she couldn’t recognize any of the items. The narrator’s mother also hid disappeared objects in sculptures—some of which the Professor Inui later gives the narrator before he goes into hiding, and some of which the narrator and the old man track down later in the novel. The narrator’s mother is generally regarded as brave by many characters in the story, since she went through impressive efforts to hold onto the memories and objects that the Memory Police tried to eradicate.
The Narrator’s Mother Quotes in The Memory Police
The The Memory Police quotes below are all either spoken by The Narrator’s Mother or refer to The Narrator’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Ribbon, bell, emerald, stamp. The words that came from my mother’s mouth thrilled me, like the names of little girls from distant countries or new species of plants. As I listened to her talk, it made me happy to imagine a time when all these things had a place on the island.
Yet that was also rather difficult to do. The objects in my palm seemed to cower there, absolutely still, like little animals in hibernation, sending me no signal at all. They often left me with an uncertain feeling, as though I were trying to make images of the could in the sky out of modeling clay. When I stood before the secret drawers, I felt I had to concentrate on each word my mother said.
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Chapter 4
Quotes
“But why do they take people away? They haven’t don’t anything wrong.”
“The island is run by men who are determined to see things disappear. From their point of view, anything that fails to vanish when they say it should is inconceivable. So they force it to disappear with their own hands.”
“Do you think my mother was killed?” I knew it was pointless to ask R, but the question slipped out.
“She was definitely under observation, being studied.” R chose his words carefully.
Chapter 8
Quotes
“Sometimes I try to remember—those were precious moments with my mother—but I can’t recall the objects. My mother’s expression, the sound of her voice, the smell of the basement air—I can remember all that perfectly. But the things in the drawers are vague, as though those memories, and those alone, have dissolved.”
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The Narrator’s Mother Quotes in The Memory Police
The The Memory Police quotes below are all either spoken by The Narrator’s Mother or refer to The Narrator’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Ribbon, bell, emerald, stamp. The words that came from my mother’s mouth thrilled me, like the names of little girls from distant countries or new species of plants. As I listened to her talk, it made me happy to imagine a time when all these things had a place on the island.
Yet that was also rather difficult to do. The objects in my palm seemed to cower there, absolutely still, like little animals in hibernation, sending me no signal at all. They often left me with an uncertain feeling, as though I were trying to make images of the could in the sky out of modeling clay. When I stood before the secret drawers, I felt I had to concentrate on each word my mother said.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4
Quotes
“But why do they take people away? They haven’t don’t anything wrong.”
“The island is run by men who are determined to see things disappear. From their point of view, anything that fails to vanish when they say it should is inconceivable. So they force it to disappear with their own hands.”
“Do you think my mother was killed?” I knew it was pointless to ask R, but the question slipped out.
“She was definitely under observation, being studied.” R chose his words carefully.
Chapter 8
Quotes
“Sometimes I try to remember—those were precious moments with my mother—but I can’t recall the objects. My mother’s expression, the sound of her voice, the smell of the basement air—I can remember all that perfectly. But the things in the drawers are vague, as though those memories, and those alone, have dissolved.”
