The need to say it by Patricia Hampl - Research Paper Example

A memoir is a collection of the subjective dispositions of individuals; the memories are tainted with one’s own emotions, one’s own beliefs and the inherent set of circumstances that shape their personalities and experiences (Ibid). Patricia emphasizes the importance of narrating one’s own story and to learn from the journeys of others through their literary works. However, according to her, a story becomes worth telling only once it is coupled with deep introspection, analysis and a mixture of imagination and perceptive observation.

Theme of the story: The theme of ‘The need to say it’ is weaved around Patricia’s stance of writing a memoir. Patricia narrates her own story and through those examples advises writers to write their own truths. According to her, a writer must not conform to other’s expectation. Patricia delineates the dilemma that one’s own memory is fallible, and people mold their stories to make them more interesting and gain the acceptance of readers, which unites them with their readers, and fulfills their need of intimacy.

(MacGraw hill, ‘The need to say it’) .Moreover, one’s own memory is fallible, and consists of a snapshot as one remembers it, and a task of a memoirist is to fill that snapshot with colors of emotions and feelings. According to her, the fallible nature of memories must not stop a person from sharing their story. According to her, stories allow people to not only relive the past, live their life twice, but also allows them to come to terms with their past (ibid). Challenges and the genre parable/ exemplum of the growing up in one culture and moving to a different culture: Patricia begins ‘The need to say it’ through the story of her Czech grandmother.

She explains how her grandmother relishes reading a Czech newspaper, but does not strive to read English newspapers or stories as she is not well-versed in English language (MacGraw hill, ‘The need to say it’). Whenever, she has to write a letter to her sister in Los Angles, she asks Patricia to write it for her. Patricia beautifully adds a personalized ambiance to her story by including details such as her grandmother would come sit near her with a pen keenly saved from the supermarket promotion distribution, and offers her cookies in return of the essay (Ibid).

Unable to find interesting stories to tell, she asks Patricia to add interesting details, so that her sister may enjoy the letter. Themes beneath the surface: The underlying theme consists of two major parts. Through her grandmother’s story Patricia delineates the fact that memoirists do not always adhere to the truth. The subjective nature of their memories is not the only reason for that. Moreover, people add more to their stories, in order to make them more interesting so that it grabs the attention of the audience.

Moreover, according to her, one must not conform to the expectations of others. She dwells upon an instance when her friend fails to call her work a memoir, because according to her she wanted to adhere to the truth, and a memoir is opposite of that. However, she did not allow her friend’s subjective beliefs to stop her from writing, and writers must never yield to such dogmas (MacGraw hill, ‘The need to say it’). Type of narrator author used: Patricia’s style of writing is engaging and she juxtaposes narration with her own commentary.

However, Patricia engrosses the readers,