Memories

This semester we discussed memory, truth, and lies, during every meeting. Lucille Clifton’s poem relates well with our topics. In our four books we are constantly reminded that the authors were lying to us, but we were given the choice to choose which version we like better. Clifton’s poem does not tell us if her memories are lies or if “their” memories are lies but it shows the controversy between author and reader. She is choosing her memories rather than “theirs”, just like how Martel gave us the opportunity to believe the “better story” or how O’Brien gave us “story-truth”. During an interview, Clifton tells her readers that she wrote this poem because her and her sister had been discussing childhood memories for a book, but it was difficult to pinpoint all the details. This relates to the way Briony believed her story but did not know all of the details. The lacks of lines symbolize the lack of details she has in her actual memories, still she chooses to believe them. “Why Some People Be Mad at Me Sometimes” basically just wrapped up our class in four lines.