What are some motifs in Aimee Bender's "The Rememberer"?

Aimee Bender’s unusual story “The Rememberer” was written in a style called “Magical Realism.” A bizarre set of circumstances is set within the frame of realistic life so that the unusual seems possible. This story concerns Darwin’s evolution theory, but in reverse.  The main character’s husband reverses the procedure by devolving into a creature that returns to the sea.

The story is narrated by the main character Annie, an ordinary woman whose lover is Ben. Her narration is in the present tense as though the story is happening as the reader reads.  Annie is a thinker, and Ben is a dreamer. Annie’s character approaches their dilemma both scientifically and emotionally.  But nothing changes the devolution of her lover.

No one knows that this has happened.  Part of the story is a flashback, but returns to the present time when Annie returns her love/salamander back to the sea. As the story starts, Ben has already evolved into a sea turtle:

My lover is experiencing reverse evolution. I don’t know how it happened, only that one day he was my lover and the next he was some kind of ape. It’s been a month, and now he’s a sea turtle.

Scientifically, the story does give a basic look at the Darwin theory.  As Ben devolves all the back to the sea, the procedure maps the reverse of science. One symbolic event occurs when Annie has to explain why Ben is no longer around.  The book store calls to explain:

His out-of-print book on civilization had arrived at the bookstore, would be please pick it up?  I told them he was sick, a strange sickness…

What irony! It makes the reader wonder if Ben had some inking that he needed to read about where he was going. One remarkable facet of Annie is that she accepts this occurrence with only the slightest hiccup.  She asks a biology teacher about evolution. He gives her the basic run down and tells her that this would probably take about a year. Science was wrong. Annie tells the reader that Ben is “shedding about a million years a day."

One of the themes of the story reflects Bender’s own life.  During the time that she wrote this story, her father was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She became one of his care givers.  Thus,  Annie becomes the caretaker for her devolving husband. As best she can, she provides whatever he needs: a baking pan of saltwater; a gentle touch for the ape; a dribble of honey in the water.

Continuing to work, Annie never knows what she will find when she returns home.  She talks to him, hoping there is still some bit of human recollection left:

‘Ben,’ I say to his small protruding head, ‘can you understand me?’ and he stares with eyes like little droplets of tar and I drip tears into the pan, a sea of me.

The author’s metaphor rings nostalgic for a woman who has lost her man and her salty tears provide his salt water home.

Another theme found in the story is the idea of the “rememberer.”  This is the person who responsibility is to hang onto and recall the memories of a life that is slowly being lost to disease or age or in this case evolution. Annie watches as her loved one regresses into unrecognizable mindlessness. 

As Ben becomes less cerebral, he loses his ability to feel emotion and detaches himself from the actual experiences of life.  Annie must remember for herself and Ben their lives together.  Relevant to the real world today and for the ones who are lost, someone must be “the rememberer.   

Describe Aimee Bender's style in "The Rememberer."

Aimee Bender writes about the reverse concept of evolution (devolution) in her story “The Rememberer.” What happens when a human being begins to reverse the evolution process is the idea behind the author’s story. Bender portrays the feelings of loss of a loved one in her main character through the following style choices.

Narration

The author chooses her main character, Annie, to narrate.  Annie watches her husband Ben devolve into simpler life forms:  Annie’s role is to give the account of this evolution and to share her feelings of loss, grief, and acceptance.  Annie does not just sit back and do nothing. She consults with science to try to understand why this would happen and how long it would take. 

Annie explains, “One day he was my lover and the next he was some kind of ape. It’s been a month and now he’s a sea turtle.”

Unreal realism

Bender uses what is referred to as “Magical realism.” The writer places unusual, surreal events in a realistic setting and treats the bizarre circumstances as though they were really happening.  Ben has a job and friends until he begins to shed “a million years a day.” These changes are grounded in the conventional routine of the main character. Annie continues to work and come home each day to find her husband is no longer human but is working backwards in the evolutionary chain.

Voice

Through Annie, the author’s voice is unique and compassionate. The use of the present tense gives the reader the feeling that the story is real and is happening as the story progresses.  Since the changes take place as the story is read, the story has a feeling of immediacy. 

Tone

The tone of the story is somewhat matter-of–fact because the narrator attempts to step back and relate the events without emotion. This does not carry through, though, as Annie appoints herself as the “rememberer.” As Annie describes the last time that they make love, she realizes that this is not her husband. He can no longer verbally communicate and further separates himself from her by choosing to sleep outside. Her tone evolves into a nostalgic recollection of events.

Sentences and figurative language

Bender's ability to combine her bizarre and sometimes comic events with deeply felt emotion cannot help but pass along some visualizations that are comical.

I looked out to the patio and there was an ape sprawled on the cement.  I knew it was him. I hugged those enormous shoulders...When he reached for me, I said No, loudly...I have my limits here.

The reader wants to cry for the protagonist, but visually the concept is funny. Her metaphorical pronouncement that her lover is now “the one-cell wonder” [although extremely poignant] gives an amusing visual.

Bender’s word choice is precise and does not give many details.  One her best sentences describes the final change that her husband goes through. Her alliteration and simile are perfect for the explanation:

[Her husband] bloated and blind, brainless, benign, heading clear and small, like an eye-floater into nothingness.

Even Ben’s name choice symbolizes what has “been” as he returns to the earlier life form. 

Ben tells Annie that she overthinks her life. The author uses an “emotional oxymoron” to describe the first time the couple made love: she had to concentrate really hard on letting go. Sadly, Annie has to let Ben go… and in the end, she returns him to the sea as “Ben the salamander.”