Useless Without the "Facts"

One definition of “memento,” according to dictionary.com, is “anything serving as a reminder or warning.” This definition surprised me.  My mom used to offer to buy my sister and me mementos from big trips we took.  So for me, “memento” always had a very positive connotation (the “warning” piece not fitting this childhood scenario).  In the context of this movie, however, his notes are his mementos, and they serve both purposes.  They are reminders of what he has done, hints to what he needs to do, warnings against other people, and mostly, they serve to warn himself of his own weakness—warnings against forgetfulness.

Leonard says his system of mementos, although incredibly inconvenient and pain inducing, is in some ways more accurate than relying on memory.  According to Leonard, memory is “just an interpretation, worthless without the facts.”  Of course he thinks memory is unreliable—he can’t create any since the accident.  But he does have a point.  Everyone sees the world through an individual lens and thinks about things in unique ways.  Everything we see and do turns into some kind of memory, and we have no control over how it forms, or how it distorts and to what degree.  According to his statement, Leonard firmly believes that the “facts” exist.  However, this logic is flawed because he cannot reach the “facts” without communicating with other people, people who cannot communicate with him without including their memories as well.

In his search for the facts, Leonard must always be re-tracing his steps, re-telling what has passed.  The more time passes, the more things happen, the more impossible the re-tracing becomes before he forgets again.  He says he “can’t feel time.”  This sensation is echoed by the structure of the film and how it keeps jumping between moments in time.  This idea relates back to O’Brien and Vonnegut, how their stories “make things present,” demonstrating the insignificance of time.  Leonard’s story is always being re-told, too easily morphed by himself and everyone around him.  For Leonard, time truly is irrelevant.  He has no recollection of anything since one moment in time anyway.