The Rememberer

“The Rememberer,” by American author Aimee Bender, is a short story that uses conventions of magical realism to explore the themes of Thought Versus Feeling, Love and Obligation, and The Sublime Quality of Loss. First published in the September 1, 1997, issue of The Missouri Review, the piece later appeared in Bender’s award-winning short story collection, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt (1998).

Bender uses first-person point-of-view to tell the story of Annie, a woman who witnesses her boyfriend, Ben, revert to earlier evolutionary forms. Annie uses a matter-of-fact tone to share with the reader that Ben first turned into an ape, then a sea turtle, and finally a salamander. Although she has no idea how his “devolution” happened, she accepts her new reality. As Ben transforms from human to animal, Annie transforms from lover to caretaker.

The story begins with the narrator, Annie, describing Ben’s condition of reverse evolution. The couple is into a month of this process. Annie then reflects on their life at the beginning of his reverse evolution and how she tried to understand Ben’s condition by visiting a community college science professor.