Plot
In the story, a man named Earl has anterograde amnesia. Because of his inability to remember things for more than a few minutes, he uses notes and tattoos to keep track of new information. Earl developed his condition after he and his wife were attacked by an unknown assailant. His wife was killed and Earl suffered severe head injuries, resulting in his amnesia. The story jumps between two time-frames. The first time frame finds Earl confined to a mental institution which he learns through written notes he had left himself. The second time frame finds Earl on the run after he escapes from the mental institution. He learns this through a third-person narrative. Earl's goal after escaping the institution is to find the man who murdered his wife and get revenge. This proves quite difficult for Earl since he lacks the ability to remember what happens to him on a daily basis. Using his wits and the help of the third-person narrative, Earl eventually succeeds in getting revenge on the man who murdered his wife, but is unable to remember his success.
Read more about this topic: Memento Mori (short Story)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“Morality for the novelist is expressed not so much in the choice of subject matter as in the plot of the narrative, which is perhaps why in our morally bewildered time novelists have often been timid about plot.”
—Jane Rule (b. 1931)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)