Obsession Led To The Downfall Of Leonard In Memento

The 2000 film, Memento is about Leonard Shelby who is trying to find the people that raped and murdered his wife while having memory issues. I believe the message of the film was about being able to trust others in the time of need. In this essay I will be talking about how critical moments in the film and the issue of obsession led to the downfall of Leonard.
To begin with, the idea of obsession led to the downfall of Leonard because throughout the film all he wanted to do was seek vengeance on the people that raped and murdered his wife. Problem is that he has a memory loss so he can only remember everything up to the incident. During the film Leonard would either write everything on his hand, on pictures or tattoo it on his body. The idea

of trust to me is important in the film because a person’s memory isn’t a hundred percent accurate. For example at the end of the film the audience member figures out that it was Leonard in all those flashbacks instead of Sammy Jankis. During the film people took advantage of Leonard because his system of keeping things in order is very faulty just like his memory. Natalie took advantage of Leonard’s disability by tricking him into thinking that her boyfriend beat her up. During the scene where Natalie beats herself up in front of Leonard, she intentionally takes all the pens in the house and walks out of the house. From the car as Natalie and Leonard is making eye contact she has a slight grin on her face. This is important because she knows by doing things like this Leonard is essentially her puppet.
Secondly, crucial moments in the film not only portrayed the downfall of Leonard but also the lack of trust.

Because of his memories his identity changed from the beginning to the end of the film. At beginning, he is looking for vengeance. By the end of the film, he is trying to figure out the point of life by trying to figure out what is the truth. At he beginning of the film I found Teddy to be another guy that was just trying to take advantage of Leonard. By the end of the film I was able to learn that Teddy was just trying to help Leonard. A crucial moment in the film was when Teddy was explain everything that happened to them in the past, but still Leonard wrote on the picture not to trust Teddy. This is important because it shows that Leonard didn’t trust Teddy at all because Teddy and Leonard have killed John G before. This also shows a flaw in Leonard’s method of keeping everything in track. I did find it frustrating that when Teddy told Leonard the truth I could tell by the look in Leonard’s eyes that he didn’t want to hear it. Instead of writing the truth down, how they already killed John G, he falsifies the information on purpose. Without trust Leonard killed the only person that was trying to look out for him. I believe that Leonard does this so he can have something to do and that the rush of trying to seek vengeance thrills him. I also believe that in the film Leonard lies to himself so he doesn’t have to face the

truth.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this modern film because there was no resolution and it raised many questions at the end of the film. I believe the film showed me how people can adjust their memories to justify their actions. I believe the message of the film was about being able to trust others in the time of need. The movie Memento showed me that a person doesn’t have the ability to do everything on his own without trust. In this essay I talked about how critical moments in the film and the issue of obsession led to the downfall of Leonard.