The Memory of Things

Readers discern very little about Hannah at the outset of the novel. From Kyle’s perspective, readers initially see a teen girl who is confused, vulnerable, and possibly endangering herself. Her wings are a mystery. In her verse-style interior monologue, the girl does not initially give the reader many additional concrete details, though it is evident that she witnessed at least part of the attack. Gradually, the reader pieces clues together about her background and identity; the rest is filled in once Hannah remembers everything before the novel’s close: She is Hannah Marconi, the daughter of Danielle and David Marconi. Her father is an esteemed attorney who took on a questionable client (a prep school teen boy named Harrison Highfront, who, along with a small group of his peers, is accused of a rape in Washington Square Park); Hannah and Danielle did not think that David’s choice to represent the boy was wise. Hannah lost her mother, a ballet dancer and creative director of the New City Ballet, when she died of ovarian cancer months before the opening of the storyline, around the same time as Kyle’s Uncle Matt’s accident.

Hannah studies ballet at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts near Lincoln Center in Manhattan. On the morning of September 11th, she went to Le Petit Pain, a small café her mother loved on Vesey Street, which runs adjacent to the World Trade Center on its south side. Hannah and her parents used to go every Tuesday morning to the café together; her father would then go to work in the South Tower while Hannah and her mother would commute to work and school. Hannah continued the tradition alone after her mother died; that she goes to the café without her father shows how strongly she feels her mother’s presence there and how much she misses her.

Hannah’s choice to run toward her father’s building when she sees the second plane hit shows her love and devotion to her father, despite her strong disagreement with him over Hightower’s case. Hannah’s trauma, shock, guilt, and remorse on September 11th, combined with the grief she was already experiencing due to her mother’s death, causes her amnesia. Logically, at her young age and after having suffered a terrible loss just months before, Hannah is not emotionally mature enough to handle the onslaught of trauma; later, when her identity and memories return, she demonstrates that she is actually abundantly strong. She lights candles for her parents at the Promenade, tells Kyle her background, shows photos of her mother, and bravely faces whatever news Mr. Donahue brings about her father. Most crucially, she regains control over her actions and ceases self-destructive behaviors (like her actions at the bridge, the open window, the ocean at Coney Island).

Even before those identity details resurface, however, Hannah is caring and concerned about Uncle Matt. She is at ease with Karina as well. She appreciates the kindness Kyle offers and demonstrates a sense of humor. Once she remembers her mother, the images of the lake, wings, hospital, and ocean are all logically connected. Hannah shows a variety of traits and identity features both before and after she regains her memory, making her a round, complex character. She is dynamic as well, in that she comes to regret her harsh judgment of her father and accepts now that he believes he was doing the right thing.

Uncle Matt has lived with Kyle and his family since he was injured badly in an accident the previous summer. One night, an SUV hit Uncle Matt’s motorcycle; Uncle Matt suffered a broken spine and jaw. He now uses a wheelchair and must rely on others’ assistance for dressing, showering, toilet needs, and eating. His speech is slurred, but he can communicate. He is incensed by the attacks; Kyle knows it must be excruciating for him to be unable to help in the city with his fellow officers.

Kyle reveals that Uncle Matt was a memory competition participant and frequently practiced for upcoming contests. Uncle Matt shows improvement in his memory techniques and proves via two exercises that he can think, comprehend, and recall at a high level. Kyle encourages Uncle Matt to reach for a cookie and grasp it at one point; with Kyle’s assistance, Uncle Matt is able to maneuver the food to his own mouth, which Kyle takes as a hopeful sign of eventual recovery. Uncle Matt represents the ephemerality of life, as his own changed drastically and permanently in an unexpected and uncontrollable way. He also represents hope, hard work, and determination. He is a dynamic character whose needs Kyle addresses, allowing Kyle the opportunity to grow and mature.

Kyle is concerned and worried about his mother and sister, who are stranded in Los Angeles the morning of the attacks; however, he communicates by phone with them several times, and he knows they are not in any imminent danger. This is not the case with Kyle’s father, Tom Donahue. Kyle realizes immediately that his father will be one of the NYPD officers on the scene of the attack; because of his role in the Joint Terrorist Task Force, he will be among “the first guys sent in during a crisis” (9).

Mr. Donahue represents Kyle’s early fear and stress in the tragic aftermath of events, as Kyle cannot reach him by phone—and even when he does talk to him, his father is exhausted, emotional, traumatized, repeatedly saying he has never seen anything like the destruction at the site of the collapsed Towers. The author uses this character to provide an eyewitness closer to the site, as Kyle himself cannot get nearby. Through his father’s perspective, Kyle understands the terms “Pile” and “Ground Zero”; he hears about President George W. Bush’s visit and stories of lost fellow officers. Kyle’s father is a dynamic character in that his vision of his city and circumstances are forever altered; he also looks at Kyle with new eyes, appreciative of the maturity his son displays in the days after the attacks.