The following passage on the subject of memory in modern literature as represented by Marcel Proust is excerpted from:

https://literacle.com/literary-memory/amp/

"Marcel Proust furthered the evolution of memory in his monumental autobiographical novel Remembrance of Things Past. In this work, Proust is plunged into memories of his childhood through the taste of a madeleine (small cake) dipped in tea. From the original flashback evoked by the taste of the cake, he maps an inner landscape of the mind through further mental associations with that first, sense-based moment, thus evolving the story from a single memory to a vast panorama of identity constructed through memory. This work more than any other has profoundly impacted the use of memory in modern literature; with it, Proust wrested memory entirely from its original use as a means of establishing textual authority and national character, recreating it as a means of personal exploration of self and the world. "

Madame Memory - a great and subtle dissembler

In John Banville's "Ancient Light" the protagonist scenes switch back and forth between him as an old man with an opportunity to resume his acting career and him as a fifteen year old boy in an affair with a woman old enough to be his mother.  He, very early in the novel, sets out what will be the central theme for the narrative as follows.

"Images from the far past crowd in my head and half the time I cannot tell whether they are memories or inventions.  Not that there is much difference between the two, if indeed there is any difference at all.  Some say that without realising it we make it all up as we go along, embroidering and embellishing, and I am inclined to credit it, for Madame Memory is a great and subtle dissembler (12)." 

A little later in the novel he adds an emerging perspective to the theme, "I was not accustomed yet to the chasm that yawns between the doing of a thing and the recollection of what was done (85)."

Near the end of the novel the protagonist after some investigative work meets a Nun who, as it happens, is the daughter of the woman he had the affair with.  She, the daughter, is the person who walked in on them as they were in one of their encounters making love. The memories of the protagonist seem to have been affected by the guilt and shame he felt when they were caught, which in turn led to false assumptions about other characters reactions and actions after the affair was exposed.  The nun-daughter's memories seem clear-headed, descriptive and reliable now and there is no way to know how much of it has been invented.  Nonetheless, the protagonist accepts her account of the situation as accurate, which brings about resolution to each character's remembrance of what happened oh so many years ago.

"The Festival of Insignificance" Milan Kundera

The Insignificance of Man is a congenial theme; my own insignificance is a sore point.  
         Mason Cooley

Milan Kundera in his novel "The Festival of Insignificance" sums up the value of insignificance as follows:  


"I've wanted to talk to you about something.  About the value of insignificance. . . . Insignificance, my friend, is the essence of existence.  It is all around us, and everywhere and always.  It is present even when no one wants to see it: in horror, in bloody battles, in the worst disasters.  It often takes courage to acknowledge it in such dramatic situations, and to call it by name.  But it is not only a matter of acknowledging it, we must learn to love it.  Breathe, D'Ardelo, my friend, inhale this insignificance that's all around us, it is the key to wisdom, it is the key to a good mood . . ."

Your personal significance will come from the acceptance of the existential givens and living your life in accord with the following:


Indeed insignificance is omnipresent and that is in spite of the fact that every individual wants to believe that he / she is significant and what they do matters. This is the search for authentic meaning in life.  The epigraph by Cooley captures the fact that it seems fine to consider "insignificance from a cultural, philosophical, or psychological view but our own significance / insignificance is quite another matter.

"Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived."

                                                           Gabriel Marcel



"For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts." 



                                                       Thomas Mann

Narcissus in the White House

Milan Kundera in his novel "The Festival of Insignificance" describes one of his characters as a Narcissus and then says, "a Narcissus is not proud.  A proud man has disdain for other people, he undervalues them.  The Narcissus overvalues them, because in every person's eyes he sees his own image, and wants to embellish it. So he takes nice care of all his mirrors (15)."

Our current president is both a Proud Man and a Narcissus.  He has disdain for anyone who is different, especially persons of color, and anyone who will not submit to his total control--thus he is a Proud Man. His "mirrors," the infatuated eyes, are the persons in his base who slavishly follow and agree with his every whim. Thus he is a Narcissus.

Republicans are totally obsequious to his every demand. Even Orin Hatch who was 88 years old and not running for reelection in 2018 seemed ready to satisfy the President's homoerotic desires even if this meant their being caught In flagrante delicto. Sometimes the submission seems predicated on self preservation but many times it seems the person is simply mesmerized.