In Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer, a young Jew named Jonathan Safran Foer heads to Ukraine to figure out his grandfather's past and hopefully, find traces of a woman named Augustine who reportedly saved his grandfather's life from the Nazis. I am not finished with the book, but from what I've read I have come to understand that one of the main themes in the book is the past, and remembering it.
The book often indicates that though we search for the past, we may not be pleased with what we find. That that past can be confining, can hold you down. There is a part in the book where the people of Trachimbrod, the Ukrainian town Jonathan's grandfather is from, get so absorbed in the past that the line between then and now starts to blur and peoples' lives are stirred up.
Lista, the more-than-slightly senile old woman who is the last survivor of Trachimbrod and unofficial guardian of the town, indicates that she would rather be dead than live with the memories she has when she says that the survivors of the town are not lucky. She dislikes her "job" as guardian instead of being glad to hold such a very signifigant position.
Also, Grandfather has issues with his past as well. He'd been involved in the war (WWII) and has such scarring memories of it that he tries to forget them. He almost ignores these memories.
Ignoring the past vividly contradicts with the other side of the theme-- learning from your past. The entire reason Jonathan goes on this adventure in the first place is find out about his grandfathers' past, and through it, find out and learn about himself.
I think that Jonathan Safran Foer tries to have us know that everything has a good and a bad side, and the past is no exception. He wants to to see the irony-- that Jonathan goes on a quest to discover what everyone else is trying their very best to forget.
Great post Olivia! It's amazing how some people are desperate to know about the past, and how some, try to forget. It's common when people search for their past, and then, when the truth is far from appealing, wish they never did. When people say "accept that the past is the past", I think that those people are inconsiderate. How can they tell someone that when they don't even know what that "past" is? How can they say that when they don't know how the person feels about their past? It may seem like comforting words just like when people say "let go", but to me, they're not. Not everything is as simple as it seems.
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DeleteI totally agree. The book really involves letting go of the past and finding calm and happiness. But not just letting go of the past-- I think one of the books themes was exploring the past.
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A great Post, I feels like this book has a push and pull feeling, one person trying to dig up the mysterious past of someone he loved, and someone stopping the protagonist. Continuing with Nicole's post, I really do see people in real life problems, even on Tv f someone that search through the past to figure out something that puzzles of interest them. But I kinda disagree with Nicole with this part. I guess you kind a say to someone that they don't even know what the "past" is. Maybe because we never really lived it we never experience that time of "past", we understand the past by reading about in a textbook or some other resource but we really know the "past". Over lovely post, one of the best ones I've read yet.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea. It's true that you can't experience the past yourself, and that's why you have to go on journeys to find out-- like how Jonathan does. And Alex, too, in a way.
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