Unshared Mutual Memories

In “Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa,” David Sedaris compares his normal, but boring, childhood to Hugh’s exciting and exotic childhood. Sedaris describes his average American youth experiences, exploring preserved “colonial villages” and living with his grandmother in New York for ten days. Meanwhile, Hugh is exploring palaces of deceased dictators and slaughterhouses and living with strangers in foreign countries like Ethiopia. Sedaris explains how “the verbs are the same, but (Hugh) definitely wins the prize when it comes to nouns and objects.” Hugh’s pet monkey is a symbol for his exotic and unusual life, where dead men are normal but Herbie is incredible, and Sedaris wishes he had come home “into the awaiting arms of my monkey” despite the other struggles that Hugh had encountered in his life. However, Sedaris says, “I have learned to take satisfaction in the life that Hugh has led” and finishes by reminiscing about Hugh’s memories as if they were his own.

Sedaris’s adoption of Hugh’s stories as his own reminded me of a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother where Ted realizes that he has told all of his memories to his wife and that they have no more to learn about each other. It seems that if you know someone well enough, it is as if all of his or her memories become yours, too.