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The Narrator’s Father
The woman is the narrator and protagonist of the unnamed narrator’s manuscript, sections of which appear throughout The Memory Police. She takes typing classes and falls for her typing teacher, and the two strike up an affair. One day, the woman loses her voice, so she can only communicate to the teacher by typing to him on a typewriter. Their relationship seems typical aside from this, but it takes a turn for the worse when the teacher tricks her into following him to a room in a clock tower and locks her there. He also reveals to her that he is the one who stole her voice. At first, she wants to escape, but she eventually becomes dismally accustomed to living in the room—she even admits that she continues to find the teacher beautiful, even after he abuses her. The woman does not take her opportunity to escape when, one day, someone besides the teacher comes and knocks on the door, and after this she gives up entirely ever leaving the room. At the end of the manuscript, the woman, who has been mentally deteriorating, is simply “absorbed silently into the room, leaving no trace.” The woman’s captivity, inability to express herself, and eventual demise parallels the narrator’s own experience living under an authoritarian regime.
The Woman Quotes in The Memory Police
The The Memory Police quotes below are all either spoken by The Woman or refer to The Woman. 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 12
Quotes
The tapping of the key striking the paper was the only sound in the room. Snow had begun to fall again, covering the tracks I had made […] He continued to hold me tighter […] The bell in the clock tower began to chime. Five o’clock. The vibration came from far above, rattling the window glass and passing through our bodies, before being absorbed by the snow below. The only motion was the falling of the snowflakes. I held my breath, unable to move, as though locked inside the typewriter.
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Chapter 15
Quotes
“You’ll forget you ever had a voice,” he continued. “You may find it annoying at first, until you get used to it. You’ll move your lips as you just did, go looking for a typewriter, a notepad. But soon enough you’ll see how pointless it is. You have no need to talk, no need to utter a single word. There’s nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. Then, at last, you’ll be all mine.”
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The Woman Quotes in The Memory Police
The The Memory Police quotes below are all either spoken by The Woman or refer to The Woman. 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 12
Quotes
The tapping of the key striking the paper was the only sound in the room. Snow had begun to fall again, covering the tracks I had made […] He continued to hold me tighter […] The bell in the clock tower began to chime. Five o’clock. The vibration came from far above, rattling the window glass and passing through our bodies, before being absorbed by the snow below. The only motion was the falling of the snowflakes. I held my breath, unable to move, as though locked inside the typewriter.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15
Quotes
“You’ll forget you ever had a voice,” he continued. “You may find it annoying at first, until you get used to it. You’ll move your lips as you just did, go looking for a typewriter, a notepad. But soon enough you’ll see how pointless it is. You have no need to talk, no need to utter a single word. There’s nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. Then, at last, you’ll be all mine.”
