Memory and "The Cookie"

Proust's "The Cookie" explores the idea of memory anthropomorphically, as the author makes memory become a tangible object. The author states "And suddenly the memory revealed itself", which suggests that the author views memory as a separate, individual entity. Often, individuals feel that their memories remain intact over time, when in reality our memories are subjective and vulnerable to manipulation by our senses each time we relive the memory. The author explains that "the sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to [his] mind...because [he] had so often seen such things"; essentially, the author is saying that overexposure of the sense of sight has led to a desensitization of his ability to trigger memory from sight stimulation. However, the taste stimulation, which is much more specific and not exposed as frequently as sight, triggers the memory for the author. There is also the idea that we are exposed to so many different sights through out the day that our ability to create memory based on sight is skewed.

On a personal note, my memory of what I originally wrote for my post was altered by our class discussion yesterday. Although my original post was very similar to what I have written above, our discussion yesterday has definitely skewed my memory of my original entry.