Memento Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Memento - Essay Example Leonard is motivated by the mission of seeking revenge for the murder of his wife. When his wife died, they were attacked by two men. He succeeded in killing one of them and the other one disappeared and he came to recognize him as John G. He ends up killing teddy and Jimmy as he suspects that they were the attacker who disappeared after killing his wife. However, in the end it turns out that Leonard was delusional and had killed his own wife. He keeps telling himself the story of the attackers in order to forget about his mistake of killing his wife. This paper analyzes the movie Memento in terms of plot structure, character development themes and style. The movie Memento does not follow the normal Freytag plot. Instead the movie follows a unique plot where the events are displayed in two sequences, the white and black sequence that follows a chronological order and the colored one which is reverse. For instance, instead of the climax appearing after the introduction, it comes at th e end of the movie where Leonard realizes that he was actually the one who killed his own wife. Nolan develops rising action by showing the confusion in Leonard’s minds. ... Leonard’s says that he knows who he was before the attack an insurance broker. He however has a problem keeping short term memory. Teddy points out that Leonard has created the unsolvable puzzle of John G. in order to give his life meaning. He tells him that the real attacker had been killed a year ago after tricking him to Kill Jimmy who was a drug dealer. A hotel attendant charges him double for a motel and points out that he would not remember it. He also says that even after getting his revenge, Leonard would not remember it. After the narration that Teddy gives about the killing of the attacker one year ago, the audience question who Leonard really is. Teddy’s story is more reliable than that of Leonard. This is because the movie establishes that since the attack, Leonard could not keep short memory. This is seen in the movie when he pays twice for a room in a motel without realizing it. Moreover, he wears Jimmy clothes and drives his car after killing him. He then walks in a bar where Natalie who was familiar with Jimmy recognized his clothes. It is thus possible that Leonard may have killed the real attacker as Teddy says. Although Leonard has a reminder of the story of Sammy he does not seem to understand the relationship that the story has in his own condition. It can thus be true that Leonard’s wife died of an overdose of insulin shot under directions of Leonard who could not remember events happening around him. He keeps repeating to his listeners that he talks fast since he has problem with short term memory. The notes and pictures that he keeps are unreliable source of information. The notes are flimsy and are not enough to base a memory on. Leonard is unable to read