In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I'd like you to read a short story by Aimee Bender. The question of commercialism vs. the celebration of love on this holiday is one that could be debated for ages. However, that being put aside, this week's topic asks you to focus on a significantly different kind of relationship and societal message.
Assignment:
1. Carefully read "The Rememberer" by Aimee Bender (link below). Keep an open mind. This story is not meant to confuse you, but instead, to draw your attention to the strength and depth needed in a relationship, among other things. You may also use the blog as a forum for asking your peers questions about their understanding of the story.
2. Your final for-a-grade comment will be done in stages. Keep in mind that I'm not looking for a perfect analysis, but instead, a thoughtful one.
- Choose what you consider to be the most important word in the story. Give your rationale for the choice: why would it be the most important?
- Return to the work and select the most important passage. Reduce the passage to a three or four word phrase that captures the entire story. Compare your phrase with the work's title to see if the two call up the same meaning. Reflect on the selected passage in terms of each of the following:
- most important words
- connection with total meaning
- links with other passages
- feeling, mood, tone
- Write what you consider the most important aspect of the story. Select, distill, and justify your choice.
- Finally, write a brief analysis (not simply just a summary) of Bender's story which includes significant details. Be sure to include the title of the story, the author's name, and the theme. Write in third person point of view. Use at least two in-text citations from the story and/or the definition of the genre within your blog comment. Use proper MLA format (see this website for help: Citation Assistance). It's okay to feel a little unsure of yourself. It's not okay to skip the assignment altogether.
- This may be a particularly long blog comment. If you keep getting blocked from posting or your post doesn't show after you've clicked, be prepared to split your comment into two posts. Consider writing your comment first on Word (or something similar), and then copying and pasting onto sayitwithmeaning, just to be on the safe side. Contact me directly for help, should you run into any problems.
Links to visit:
- Short story: "The Rememberer"
- Magical realism definition
Optional, extra credit assignment:
Engage in a meaningful conversation (at least one paragraph or more) with at least one of your classmates.
Due date:
Friday, February 11th at midnight
(Yes, even though it's a holiday.)
In the passage the most important word out of that is lover. Due to that fact all she is talking about is her lover. The way she is protective and caring for the person. No matter what is going on in his life she is there to support him. For example, when it said “then he told me he wanted to sleep outside for some reason, and in the morning when I woke up in bed, I looked out to the patio and there was an ape sprawled on the cement, great furry arms covering his head to block out the glare of the sun.” This shows the lover that she cares and does not care on the way he looks.
ReplyDeleteI knew it was him from the moment I look in his eyes. I was not terrified and I did not bother to call for help. I step back and told him that I have boundaries.
In the short story “The Rememberer” by Aimme Bender is story that helps one understand what that what really matter is what is on the inside. For example when she said “We sat on the lawn together and ripped up the grass/ I didn't miss human Ben right away, I wanted to meet the ape too, to take care of my lover like a son, a pet.” This is telling the people that he can look as ugly as possible she would love him not matter the on the way he looks. In addition, when it is said "Ben," I whisper, ‘do you remember me? Do you remember’, His eyes roll up in his head and I dribble honey into the water.” The show the smaller and more complicated thing get one is still going to be with him. Moreover, people think the only true reason to love someone is by the way they look and act. Truly the feeling have to come for within the person. The moral of the short story is to look behind of where the person is coming from.
Her lover transforms into the opposite of evolution. He is human, to ape, and then into a salamander. I think the most important thing to remember and always keep in our mind is evolution. Evolution is a process in which species are outgrown within the environment. In this short story, Bender uses evolution backwards. The start of how her lover became a reversed evolution shows that he started to go back through age. Throughout her story, the use of a reversed cycle caused magical realism. The scientific theory of evolution makes readers wonder and think on the situation in the short story.
ReplyDeleteWhen her lover, Ben, became an ape, it shows that he is less than human. He changed through nightfall and when time cam, he morphs into a fish-like creature, which shows that he is premature. This short story kind of reminds me of a movie called, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The concepts of both these stories are relatively the same. In the movie, a boy starts to grow young as time moves on. In “The Rememberer”, it is the similar, but evolution took its toll instead, and transforms a man into actual shifts from human to animals. That is why it fits into the magical realism idea. The author’s tone implies that she is cautious and lost. In the short story, she did not want anyone to know about Ben’s “unknown sickness” and so she tries to cope with the problem. She figures that she would let her lover go and stay optimistic that he returns human again.
In “The Rememberer,” When Ben said, "Annie, don't you see? We're all getting too smart. Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart,” it sets off some kind of theme. It created how much this quote goes along with the short story. People’s heads grows bigger because there is not enough love to go around, but the more educational thinking, the more our world shrinks. The point in which the quote is saying, it supports the reversed evolution. Her lover shows how the world is shrinking hypothetically, but he experiences how it can be literal to grow smaller. This brings back to the magical realism. The process that Amy Bender included in the short story shows many symbols. The morphing of her lover’s physical and emotional being symbolizes how much a man can transform through the changes of time.
Bender,Amy. “The Rememberer”. http://www.missourireview.org.
In the poem “The Rememberer,” by Aimee Bender, in the poem the word that’s the most important is lover. The author repeats this word through the whole story. The poem is about a woman loving someone so much even though he is different than ever one else. The woman loves this person so much she repeats so many times. Through the poem the author describes the man as an ape, sea turtle, and then a salamander. The other uses symbolism to help understand what this really means to the author. The man changes ever time but even though he does change the woman will still love him. The word lover is something important to women because it shows how much the man really means to her. The woman protects him at all because she loves him. The women loves her lover so much that she can determine how he is because when he became a ape she saw him and said, “Even before I saw the eyes, I knew it was him.” Its shows that she knows him not from the outside, but from the inside. This is what love is about loving the person for what they are, but not how they look. She shows her love by being with him even though he looked like a beast. Love is emotion that will make you blind, but in the end it’s a wonderful feeling. This is a feeling that the women feels, but in the end she feels like she has to leave him because it’s taking her life away. Love is something wonderful, but the woman just couldn’t handle it.
ReplyDeleteWord: "human"
ReplyDeleteThe word human is the most important word put of the entire short story. She reflects upon the Fact that he is non human. What the reader must do is understand what being human means. Being human doesn't mean just breathing, or functioning according to our physiological self. Being human means to feel, to believe and to hope. She states that her lover has lost all means of hope towards the world. She says, "Last day I saw him human, he was sad about the world." This shows the insanity that was going through the mind of Ben and this was the last part of his "human" side, the side with feelings, and emotions.
Phrase: "I learned quick the consequence of wishing specific."
Ben is a male who thinks of life and humanity to the point that not even Annie understood him. She understood his ideology and loved him for it. She says, "He was always sad about the world. It was a large reason why I loved him." They had a connection that kept her with unconditional love. He states "we think far too much" and she believes that. She knows it by stating that in her childhood she wished specifically and because of the outcome she stopped. She doesn't even try and specify her life instead she reflects it through Ben who goes from human to animal. The impact that he has on her is great because she believes in his ideas.
In the story "The Rememberer", the character Annie, lives a life with Ben, a philosophical male. One can infer that he has seen enough to lose hope in people. This shows the most authentic and perfect relationship possible. She stand by him through all sorts of situation. She reflects this through explaining the theory of evolution through her husband. Although she loves the "human Ben" but she says she wants to know all sides of him. True love is shown through this relationship when he finally turns into a "salamander" and she leaves him in the ocean. When she says that, one can infer that she leaves him. The fact that he still wasn't happy while he was with her makes one believe that it may be the reason why she leaves. She was there for Ben through both good and bad and he still decreases his humanity and sanity. She leaves him and she states in the last paragraph that she wonders of he will ever return. If things were to change and he were to return, she would still take him back. The love and comfort she has for him is one that will never change even when he does. That is the most perfect and authentic relationship possible.
The most important word in this story is evolution. Evolution is change over time and I think it to be highly symbolic of the relationship between the two characters. Not only was their a physical changes of Ben's character turning into different animals, but the change of their relationship and what they find important in life. I also thought it interesting that the author starts off with stating that her lover was “experiencing reverse evolution” I think she was referring to his physical changes, but I couldn't help also thinking that the first 4 letters of evolution spell love backwards, so maybe its symbolic of their relationship going back to the basics of love.
ReplyDeleteThe world needs heart. The passage beginning with “On his last human day,” seems to be the most important in my opinion. It says a lot about what Ben thinks it seems as though this was his moment of realization, his epiphany. Drawing back to what I had previously mentioned about returning to the basics of love. He understands that people preoccupy themselves with all sorts of other things that don't share the same importance as with matters of the heart. I think the coming to this realization is the most important aspect of the story, that’s when all the changes really start to take place. I think it's when we come to important conclusions that we start living our lives and looking at things differently. Even before he physically changes they both got through the relationship changes and start to better understand what they were missing all along. And when she wakes up and find him as an ape she isn't necessarily alarmed, she still loves him and feels comfortable with him just hoping that he will turn human once again. While at the same time fully understanding that that may never be the case she patiently waits upon him.
The most important word in the story, "The Rememberer", by Amiee Bender, is limits. This word does not often appear in the story, but it does leave a strong impact. Limits is an important word because it shows that Annie is giving up. Annie states how much she loves Ben and also makes it seem as if she would stay with him forever. It is also an important word because it shows the changing point of the story. Annie goes from a loving girl that is willing to wait for Ben; to a girl who is giving up and letting go. The word limits can be used in a positive or negative way, and Annie made it a negative word. This why the word limits is an important word in the passage.
ReplyDeleteThe story,"The Rememberer", is about letting go and moving on. This shown by Annie saying, "This is the limit of my limits...", within these words it is shown that she is moving on from that love she once had.(Bender) The word limits is interpreted a lot it can be the limits of her heart, of her love, or of her relationship with this person and animal. Although, Annie doesn't talk about the bad things of relationship in the beginning, she does end her story by letting him free. The story is summarized in the passage,"This is the limit of my limits...".(Bender)
The theme of the story, The Rememberer", by Amiee Bender, is love and letting go. These is shown by Annie, "I stood up and kissed the entire back of his neck...made wishes there because I knew no woman had ever...kissed his every inch of skin she gives signs of affections that any woman in love would do.(Bender) Not only that, but Annie stays with the animal changing Ben. She doesn't leave him or anything of that sort. "I didn't even really care, then, not at first; I didn't panic.." is how Annie felt when she first saw Ben as an ape.(Bender) Her love stayed the same as Ben continued to change. As time passes by Annie does start to give up, "This is the limit of my limits: here it is..." , this is when she decides to let go of her love for Ben and set him free.(Bender) Annie loved Ben, but learned to let go of something that could no longer be.
Bender, Amiee. "The Missouri Review." Rememberer 20.2 (1997): n. pag. Web. 11 Feb 2011. .
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteStage 1:
ReplyDeleteThe most important word in the story is “memories”. Memories are the little things that our brain holds on to. They remind us of the moments that stick out in our lives, the things worth remembering. Whether they're moments of happiness, sadness, or embarrassment, they're there, clinging to the insides of your brain. There are times, however, when your brain decides to let go of memories. Your brain doesn't let go automatically, like a bomb about to set off in a second. Memories slowly and gradually escape the inner corners of your brain and just disappear. The narrator's lover somehow forgot all memories he had with the narrator, to the point where she was totally beyond recognition. The narrator, however, still has memories still hanging on in her head. She is “The Rememberer”, the one who still has things to hold on to. And even though her lover cannot remember the things they both shared, it's okay because somehow, the memories are strong enough for her to get through with her life without him.
Stage 2:
The most important passage contains a quote from the narrator's lover, who says, “...the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart.” The lover believes that many people in the world think too much. All the thoughts cram up in their brains and leaves no room for the things that really matter, like love and happiness. This is a pivotal aspect in the story. Sometimes, over-thinking and over-analyzing the little things in life can not only have detrimental effects for yourself, but also for the people around you. Thoughts have the ability to consume you from within. You start to forget what it means to love and you drift away, almost like losing your touch with reality. This seems to be the occurring dilemma present in “The Rememberer” as the narrator's lover experiences reverse evolution, going from human to ape to sea turtle, and eventually into a lone salamander. The organism's ability to love decreases down the animal chain. For example, in “The Rememberer”, the narrator recalled that “[h]e used to love honey.” When the narrator gives her salamander-lover some honey, he simply “licks at it and swims to the other end of the pan.” This shows his indifference to honey.
Stage 3:
In Aimee Bender's short story, “The Rememberer”, she tells a story of a man who goes through reverse evolution and recalls the many various moments they shared together when they were human. It ends with the narrator eventually letting go of her salamander-lover into the ocean.
The whole story is an example magical realism, which is when “writers mingle and juxtapose realistic events with fantastic ones” according to Web.cn.edu. The narrator's lover somehow became so upset about the world transforming into a heartless wasteland that he started to transform into various creatures of decreasing intellectual ability. From the ape, he turned into a turtle, and from there, a salamander. This represents the lover drifting away from the narrator. He himself kept over-thinking and eventually his thoughts became too big for his body. Eventually he became nothing more than a salamander, a creature of indifference. He couldn't remember the narrator or pretty much anything regarding his life. The narrator wanted to keep hanging on because her love for him was powerful. She still has her thoughts and memories to hang on to, to remember. However, the narrator realizes that you need to let go of the things you love, which is why she let her salamander-lover go into the ocean. She hopes that he will transform back into his human self so that he can be able to come back with open arms. That is the reality with most relationships – it's more than just a give and take, it's about letting go as well.
Step 1:
ReplyDeleteI [agree with Curly Karen] and think the most important word in this story is “evolution”. Evolution describes the changing of something over a period of time. Annie and Ben’s relationship proved to do just that, what with his constant changing into different animals and the route that their relationship took.
Step 2:
When Annie describes Ben morphing into an ape, it implies that he is almost a man, but not quite there yet. Oddly enough, she doesn’t let this deter her from her love of him, but goes about her daily life. A reader can infer the meaning of this passage to mean her wariness and feeling of loss of her love. She refrained from telling anyone, however, for others’ opinions of him, and possibly ridiculing him. She attempts to conceal hid “condition” from others, and figures that he will go back to his normal self when he is ready.
Step 3:
In the short story “The Rememberer”, the main character, Annie, lives with the love of her life, Ben. One person can presume by his actions that he has witnessed enough of life to where he believes there is no reason to place hope in people anymore. Annie stands by his side throughout the story, explaining “evolution” to the readers. She claims to love the human Ben, but would like to have the chance to get to know his other “personalities”. When he turns into a salamander, it is enough for the reader to see that he wasn’t happy in the relationship with her, and he feels free –er without her. I took her leaving him to mean that she could tell he wasn’t happy, so she left him to make him happy. The perfect “true love” relationship is one in which a person does not change their feelings about the other, no matter what trials cross their paths. Aimee states, “Sometimes I wonder if he’ll wash up on shore.” I truly believe that if he were to turn up again, she would take him back, no questions asked.
In the passage of "The Rememberer" by Aimee Bender,the word of choice is "good".In the story,the passage says that Annie and her LOVER once discussed about how " Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart".The toic seemed to upset the narrator's lover.As Annie was outside looking for a star that noone has wished for to make her own she wished for good,"Just good".Whether the good that Annie wished for was for the good of herself,her LOVER, or the planet we do not know. The passage implies that "just good" was for her own good.What was good for the narrator was to see that her LOVER not feel like the world lacks heart. The narrator's LOVER felt that the world lacked heart because people were too smart, and so the wish that Annie made made the world have more "heart" by making one person less intelligent.If it was not because of the wish for good,her significant other would have still been human.The two would still be together,and Annie would not have felt like she was pushed to her limit.
ReplyDeleteIn the passage,there is a part in which Annie is looking at the night sky because of her inability to sleep.As the main character is looking at the stars,she is curious as to the outcome if she were to wish on an un-wished star.Annie wishes and says,"I wish for good",this is an important phrase.When Annie wishes for good,it is not directed to anything nor anyone in particual which means it can be directed to anyone and anything.It is believe that Annie wishes for good in the world,because of her recollection of the conversation that she had had with her LOVER.Annie's LOVER said,"Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart".When LOVER said this,he was sad.It is obvious that Annie does not like her partner to be sad and wanted to change that,although one of the reasons that she loves him is due to his sadness.Annie remembers the conversation and bases her wish off of it,relating to the title.The word "rememberer" means "one who recalls from memories".Annie was able to recall the dialogue between her and her significant other and wanted there to be more good in the world by wishing,but as you know wishes almost never go right.Just like in the movie,"Night Rider".In "Night Rider" a young stunt performer is asked to make a deal with the devil.The young performer is given one wish,and it was for his father's cancer to be rid of.The wish was granted,but the father died.This is an example of a wish gone wrong.Just like in the movie,Annie's wish soon backfired as her significant other began to go backwards in the evolutionary cycle.If it were not for the narrator's wish,she would still be in her lover's arms.
In the story by Aimee Bender called, "The Rememberer",the main character Annie finds herself in a situation in which her significant other is going through a reverse evolutionary change.Annie notices that her partner is an ape the day after they make love.Annie notices that her LOVER is not in bed,she looks outside to her patio and spots this ape and immediately believes that it is him.The narrator takes her lover to the teacher of Biology in order to retrieve a timeline of evolution leading to human. Annie retrieves it and soon after,cuts her lover's entire life off from him due to his rare illness.Soon after, Annie recalls the last day in which her significant other was human,she also recalls his sadness in that day. The narrator also states that her LOVER was always sad, and that the reason he was sad was because,"We're all getting too smart. Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart."Annie's LOVER felt that the poeple had brains but no heart, and that is what saddened him. Annie remembered the evolution continueing,and continued up until her LOVER turned into a lizard and decided that she had to let him go.What Annie did was she put her pet LOVER in a pan and went to the ocean for him to live as a free animal."Sometimes I think he'll wash up on shore."Annie says, in hopes to see her beloved lizard turned human to continue as they were before the slight change in appearence.
ReplyDeleteBender, Amiee. "The Missouri Review." Rememberer 20.2 (1997): n. pag. Web. 12 Feb 2011.
Stephanie Scott
ReplyDeleteMs. Maenpaa
English III AP, Period 4
11 February 2011
Dreaming of Love
The most important word in Aimee Bender’s “The Rememberer” is dream because it is used a few times. Dream could also refer to her dreaming of him after he left because she couldn’t think of anyone else. She also dreamt with him under the starry sky.
One passage from the story reduced to a few words would be “realizations always come last” because she won’t realize that he isn’t coming back in the last paragraph of the short story. The phrase is connected to the title because she will continue to remember Bill until she understands that she is alone. The most important words in my selected passage are “remember” and “one self”. Its connection to the total meaning of the story is that she is doing things like walk around at night or keeping her phone number listed in the phone book because of her small obsession with not being alone, so she continues to remember him. When she talks about him being to history and back that relates to the first paragraph where she said he is going through a reverse evolution, and reversing evolution is like going back in history to the apes and cavemen. Her tone in the last paragraph is hopeful, alone, and wondering. The mood is sad because she is alone and waiting for him.
The most important aspect of the story is compatibility. The reason they couldn’t stay together was because of their different way of thinking from each other which made them unable to fully understand each other’s feelings. This is important to the story’s conflict because it is a problem that many people have a hard time overcoming. The character’s way of thinking makes the story more interesting because it makes you question their compatibility which influenced his leaving her. Compatibility is the most important aspect because it is the cause behind the events in the story like her being alone.
In Bender’s “The Rememberer” the theme is if you love someone then you will remember them even after they have left you. Bender uses similes to describe Bill like when she says he is, “…like an eye-floater into nothingness”, she means that he and his brain have reverted into nothing. She also uses imagery to describe Bill as, “…an ape… [with] …great furry arms…”, to express that he is going backwards on the evolutionary scale. Bender uses magical realism which is showing a fantasy through reality by making a person revert into an animal and having that person’s lover care for him until he is no more than a salamander.
The most important word is lover. Bender uses the word to describe who was dear to her. This is important because it goes to describe the one she loves. Bender does not specifically say that her husband is going through changes because he did not always stay as a man. He became an ape and a salamander. However, no matter what he was, she still loved him; that is why she referred to him as her lover.
ReplyDeleteThe most important part of the passage is the part where says, “I put him in the passenger seat of the car, and drive him to the beach.” What Bender is saying here is that if you love something, you will let it go. Later in the passage, she says that sometimes she thinks he will wash up on shore. The author is saying that if he loves her back, he will come back and she think that will happen so she waits for him. The important word of this part of the passage is “floating”. Not only is Bender referring to the pan in the water, she is talking about love overall. Bender is saying that love is free and flexible. Love is not something where we could control and set standards for. It is spontaneous and cannot be forced to happen. Bender sums all that up by using the word “floating”. The connection between this part and the whole passage is that a person’s love (person or object) is not there forever. Things happen and the one loved may not always be, so people must rely on their memories. Once something is gone, the only thing to keep the love there is to remember, because there is nothing actually there to remind them of who or what they love. This reminds of the article where parents were trying to arrange marriages for their 3- and 4-year olds. Going back to love being flexible, that is what should happen. It has to occur by itself and not be forced to happen by people who think it should happen a certain way. The feeling Bender portrays is acceptance. She did not judge or push away her husband when he became the ape or the salamander. She said, “I didn't even really care, then, not at first; I didn't panic and call 911.” That is the most important aspect of the story. Bender is saying that love comes in many forms. It does not strictly have to be between two people. The author showed this throughout her story. No matter what her husband became, she still cared for him. She “sat with him outside and smoothed the fur on the back of his hand” when he was a gorilla. When he became a salamander, she poured honey into his water because she remembers that he used to like it.
In Bender’s short story, “The Rememberer”, the overall theme is love. Bender does not directly say it but it is expressed through her actions and words. She gives readers the idea that love has no rules and restrictions. That is proven when the author mentions her husband changing into these different animals. The author says, “I hugged those enormous shoulders.” She embraced him and it did not seem as if she were bothered by it. Bender implies that anyone can love and care for whoever they wished, and sometimes sacrifices have to be made. For example, the situation with the salamander, usually most people would be disgusted with the slimy creature. Bender, however, gave it honey and water. She even felt that she probably could not care for it properly so she set it free. “The Rememberer” is what the author thinks her job or duty is after her husband is gone. “I review my memories and make sure they're still intact because if he's not here, then it is my job to remember.” Since he is no longer there with her to make new memories, she must look back at the experiences she has been through and just live with that.
The most important word choice is heart because you have to love yourself, love others around you and show compassion. In the story "The Rememberer", it says that,"Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart." It said that he was always sad and she loved him for it. She loved him for who he was.
ReplyDeleteWhen Ben had changed from human to ape, Bender looked into his eyes and was still happy because she knows deep down that it is still Ben. She wanted to take care of him as if he was her "son" or "pet".
The central message is to love someone for who they are, not for what they have. Bender loved the human side of Ben and wanted to know the "other side" of Ben. "I didn't miss human Ben right away, I wanted to meet the ape too, to take care of my lover like a son, a pet; I wanted to know him every possible way but I didn't realize he wasn't coming back." Bender maybe meaning that she wanted to meet the "other side" of Ben, but that he "came back".
Word: Love
ReplyDeleteThe author Aimee Bender of "The Remembered" talks about love throughout her short story. Bender starts to compare him to an ape, and a sea turtle. She also, talks about, when people would as for her lover she would simply say that he was sick or not at home. In a way, this makes her look in denial, of maybe his death. She then reminisces about different times and the things that they did together, thinking about the love and happiness they went through. She then at the end, finally feels that it is time to let go as she thanks to herself, "Sometimes I think he'll wash up on shore." She was in love with a man who is now gone, and she believes that maybe one day he will come back.
Word: Human
ReplyDeleteAimee Bender the author of "The Remembered" talks about the word 'human' various times, in stating this word i feel like she is talking about man-kind overall in a sence that we are all lovers who have lost someone dear to us and cannot do anything about it. She begins to talk about this man she is in love with who is turned into in ape, by this i think she she is reffering that he is not who he use to be he has changed therfore his apearence has transformed into an ape. I think she was in a state of denial by this statement, "Ben," I whisper, "do you remember me? Do you remember?", she is saying it to a salamader i believe she has engraved thoughts about ben in her mind because he is no longer human in her mind, she also begins to think when she went to the beach to let the salamder go into the ocean he will wash up one day startled nd lost this shows that she has not forgotten about her true love.
The central message in my opinion is to never think to much about someone cus then in turn you will begin to over think about things. Like when Bender states "I didn't miss human Ben right away, I wanted to meet the ape too, to take care of my lover like a son, a pet; I wanted to know him every possible way but I didn't realize he wasn't coming back" she thought too much about every detail nd everything soo in a sence she wanted to meet and think of both sides of Ben.
important word: LOVE
ReplyDeleteThe most important word used in the story "The Remember" is love. The author of the story talks about her lover and compares him to diffrent type of animals. She doesnt refer to her lover to a human that often. She also had diffrent types of love for him, because she states "...I wanted to meet the ape too, to take care of my lover like a son, a pet...". The author loved Ben some much that after he was gone, she was hopeing that he will come back to her.
The most important word in Bender’s story “The Rememberer” is “remember”. Throughout the story, Annie is remembering her times with her lover, and how things began to change. She wants not only herself, but also Ben to remember their love. As time passes, Ben forgets the love they felt towards one another. Even though Ben forgets it, Annie remembers and waits for the day that Ben, too, will remember.
ReplyDeleteThe most important passage in Bender’s “The Rememberer” is the last passage. “Sometimes I think he’ll wash up on a shore.” This shows that even though time has passed, Annie still loves Ben with all her might. No matter the time, or the changes in life, she cannot forget her love. She will keep remembering Ben, and hope that one day he comes back to her. A phrase that could cum up the meaning of this passage is “love is never forgotten.” The title of the story and the phrase are related in that they both show that love is always remembered. Annie is being a “rememberer” by thinking of her past lover, and she will never forget him. This is the most important aspect of the story. This is because it is the moment that Annie realizes that in order to see if it is true love, she has to let Ben go.
Bender’s short story “The Rememberer” is about the “reverse evolution” of a couples love. They were a happy couple that was in love, but Ben began to change his feelings towards Annie. As Ben changes from human, to ape, to sea turtle, to a salamander their relationship deteriorates. They become more and more estranged. Ones he becomes a salamander there is no love from Ben. His “reverse evolution” causes him to forget about everything he ones felt for Annie. He is no longer human to feel for Annie. She gets to a point where she can no longer deal with their relationship. She says “This is the limit of my limits: here it is, “and lets him go. She loves him, but Ben no longer has the same emotions for her. From reading “I wave to the water with both arms, big enough for him to see if he looks back,” it is obvious that Annie will keep loving him and waiting for his return.
Evolution means change that occurs over time. In "The Rememberer" by Aimee Bunder, Ben said "...We're all getting too smart. Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart". This passage refers to the fact that over time humans change and actions that used to be done by emotion are now simply over-analyze; he feels that humans are evolving. That is why the most important word used is evolution.
ReplyDelete"He said he hated talking and just wanted to look into my eyes and tell me things that way", could be the most important passage in the story. In this passage it simply states that one look could show many emotions, while something that can be said or written cannot have the same effect. This passage could also refer to the most important word, because as we evolve we rely more on words to let someone know how you feel; for example like telling someone you love them or that you hate them. When you look someone in the eyes it is almost as if you are looking right through them. Animals do not need to talk to express themselves but they show their emotions through actions or facial expressions.
In Bender's story, she writes about how Ben goes through reverse evolution and can becomes these different animals. The reason why Ben goes through reverse evolution is because he has learned that we did not evolve physically but mentally also and does not like the fact that humans tend to over-analyze, it makes him sad. Annie is someone who is used to over-analyzing, the first time she when she refers to the time they had intercourse as "sex" and the second time as "made love", both words have different connotations and stories behind them. When Annie refers to the time when they had "sex" she explains on how she "concentrated really hard on letting go", while to the time they "made love" she said to Ben " See, we're not thinking". It seems that the theme of the story is to acknowledge the small gestures.For example, when someone says " I love you" look at the person's face because their expression is what truly matters not their words. She wants people to concentrate on the raw emotion rather that to analyze on what is said.
In Aimee Bender’s article, “The Rememberer”, the most important word is “peculiar”. This word is important because of the way life works. Love and life both work in peculiar ways, but ironically, “It [is] all very familiar” (Bender, 1). The most important passage of the article is “This is the limit of my limits”. Knowing that you have limits is something regular, but knowing you want to pass those limits is something you constantly recall on because it was either a moment of weakness or because you wanted to pass those limits for something important.
ReplyDeleteIn Aimee Bender’s article, “The Rememberer”, she addresses the many stages of love. Even though Ben was not in a human stage, she still saw him for who he was. Love may go through different stages just as the speaker’s “lover is experiencing reverse evolution” (Bender, 1). Just like the speaker, “[she has] limits here” (Bender, 1).however, she passed those limits to endure the many stages of Ben’s life.
The most important word to remember in the short story "The Rememberer" by Amiee Bender is remember. The story is all about remembering how things were before thinking was important and remembering how the couple use to be before the man, Ben, started to evolve backwards.
ReplyDeleteThe most important passage is "too much thought... not enough heart." This ties in with the title of the article because to remember involves thinking. The male character in this story was tired of the thinking part of life and just wanted his heart to do all the work.
In Aimee Benders article, "The Rememberer", two lovers go through hard times because the man in the relationship is going through reverse evolution. That may be strange to most people but the woman's love for the man is so strong that she looks past the stages that he is going through. She finally decides to let him go in the end, but never gave up hope that he may come back in his original human form.
My Lover is the most important word in the story. To begin with, the author is willing to deal with so much because that is her lover. With that being said, she is in love and that love consists of no limits. Meaning she will do anything in her power to keep this love alive even if he is an ape.
ReplyDeleteAs it was said by Ammie binder,"We're all getting too smart. Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart." In other words, as society modernizes our relationship values are forgotten. My analysis relates with the title because as society modernizes we leave behind our traditional ways. The title Is “The rememberer” expressing how she recalls the way her relationship with her lover use to be.
The most important word in the story is "unwavering". That is what true love should be - unwavering. Love has to be able to outlast the most grueling conditions. Even when her lover becomes a small salamander and she sends him out too sea, the narrator never gives up hope. She longs for her lover's embrace and she waits, patiently, with a vast hope that he will one day return. Their love for each other never faltered. Even when facing that she may never see her lover again she waits; hopeful, and patient.
ReplyDelete"We're all getting too smart. Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there's too much thought and not enough heart." The lover realized that there is too much thought put into love. He wants to love blindly. His fear of thinking to much causes him to be depressed. The fact that the lovers put so much thought into their relationship worries him.
In "The Rememberer" by Aimee Bender, a couple is in love. Their bond is at its strongest when they are thinking. The man feels that they put too much thought into love. He wants to love with his heart and not his mind. The line, "He looked at me pointedly, blue eyes unwavering. 'Like us, Annie,' he said. 'We think far too much.'" shows that he wants to love her with his heart. He doesn't want to think about it, he just wants to fall head first into it. When the man undergoes reverse evolution his lover never gives up on him. She states, "Sometimes I think he'll wash up on shore". Annie just wants her lover to return to her arms. The theme of the story is that true love is hard to find, don't give up on it once you have found it.
The most omportant words are "can you understand me?"because it portraits the way love is.love is somthing that just happens there is not really a way to explain it.in the poem love is dicussed by the couple which makes it hard for them to function as a couple."ben" is being described as an ape and a salamander because the author wants to let the audience know how love is and how it can be somthing that changes without percation just as ben changed without knowing what he was going to turn into.
ReplyDeleteeverytime they tried to discuss love they would come up with some logical explanation that harmed thier relationship rather then help it. an example that can help explain the situation would be: us teenagers when we are givin a math problem such as 2+2= we try to think that maybe thier is a trick behind it sice we are older and have a more advanced way of thinking. we ask ourselfs "maybe we are suppost to use a formula or maybe we have to use pie or maybe gragh the equation by putting it in a certain format?" we think that since we are so advanced in math, this problem cant be so simple as 2+2 =4.thats how love is we try and look at it from diiferent sides that we miss the whole real point of what it rally is and how easy it can be. what happened to the popular saying "just do what your heart tells you to do?".
The poem is trying to convey the idea that love is somthing that changes without warning, but that is why its called love.because it has its ups and downs.if a relationship doesnt have any problems then it is not functioning properly.