In Nora's city, terrorist attacks happen nearly three times a week, forcing everyone to travel in armored vehicles, routinely visit Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic and even move to compounds. The compounds include malls, schools, movie theaters, etc., so that no one in the compound ever has to leave. Also, compound members have to have ID chips put inside them, so they can be identified and tracked. The people who don't have ID chips inside them, have "mobiles", which are also used to identify and track individuals.
The Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic, or TFC, is supposed to help individuals avoid post traumatic stress disorder by giving the patients a pill to forget traumatizing or unpleasant memories. But as Nora finds out, some things need to be remembered.
The following are some of my favorite quotes: "We walked up to our house in silence. Mom lagged behind as if she were trying to enjoy the scenery. We do live in a pretty area. Eighteenth-century town houses in alternating blues and creams and grays. Tree-lined streets with big oaks and maples forming a canopy over the pavement. Cobblestone sidewalks" (pg 20).
"These streets used to make me feel safe. And inside the foyer, the gleaming hardwood floors so shiny you could see your face in them and the historic-trust sage green walls with wide antique white molding-all of which mom had painstakingly restored-used to make me feel safe, too. Now I wasn't so sure" (pg 20).
"We'd stayed at a little cabin a block from the beach. The sheets smelled funky, and it had been cold out, too cold to swim. We'd walked barefoot on the rocky beach, eaten popcorn shrimp and saltwater taffy, and watched the stars at night. The beach town didn't have a curfew like Hamilton and the other big cities did. I'd loved that freedom. the world seemed so much bigger" (pg 60).
I think there should be a distinction made between memories which effect our lives today and ones which have nothing to do with the present, but still haunt us. For example, I'm sure there are some war veterans who would love to forget some of the things they have seen. I think that would be completely justified. However, if you are in an abusive relationship, and your partner makes you go to the TFC so you won't remember your partner is abusive, then that is wrong and shouldn't be allowed.
The book made me think about the things I remember, and why it is important to hold onto those memories. It also made me think about forgiveness. It is important to forgive people, but that doesn't mean you act like nothing ever happened. You can forgive someone without trusting them again. Furthermore, we are supposed to learn from our experiences. If we just went around erasing the parts of our lives we-or other people-want us to forget, then we lose all that knowledge.
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