The Sense Of An Endings Sparknotes

There are many uncertainties with the accuracy of memory which are shown in Julian Barnes’ book, “The Sense of an Ending”, through the perspective of the protagonist, Tony Webster. Tony is attempting to regain his memories to find himself as he comments on his past and realizes his imperfect memory. Barnes demonstrates the difficulty of recollecting memories in order to find ourselves. Tony’s past is tangled up with so many stories and events that he did not necessarily take part in. This causes a problem for him to find the truth due to the absence of information. Tony himself retells the story of his life and tries to uncover and make sense of all the loose ends he experienced in his life. His confusion and all his assumptions of the

Tony starts off his narration by saying that “[he] remember[s], in no particular order” (Barnes, 3) and goes on to explain certain images or events that he remembers but ends by saying “[t]his last isn’t something [he] actually saw, but what [he ended] up remembering isn’t always the same as what [he] witnessed” (Barnes, 3). He is telling his story in a nostalgic, chronological order from his school days to college to his marriage and eventually to his present life basing it off memories he is not completely sure of. Even though there are imperfections to the memories he is gathering, he still accepts his own version as the real truth. Although, as time passes Tony learns to acknowledge that his memory is faulty and accepts it as it is. Barnes displays how Tony is creating false memories and therefore the memories he recollects are creating a false self. Based on the inaccuracies of those memories that represent his past, Tony becomes a new creation with a new identity. People create themselves based on their experiences and Barnes is suggesting that memory can create a wrong identity and character that others judge and believe based on the stories that are told from the self whether accurate or

Veronica and Adrian started a relationship a little after her and Tony were together and he had written them both a letter where he believed he was helping them out and looking out for their best interest. Now, when he looks back on this letter in the present time he realizes how harsh he sounded because “[all he] could plead was that [he] had been its author then, but was not its author now. Indeed, [he] did not recognize that part of [himself] from which the letter came. But perhaps [it] was simply further self-deception” (Barnes, 97). When he thinks back on this letter he only feels remorse because he has caused a lot of damage even though time has passed. To support the argument that his memory is eluding him by affecting who he is and how he got this way, he always felt that they were the ones in the wrong for doing what they have and he was the victim but now he understands it was always him. His personality changes as certain aspects of his memory teach him that “how the witnesses to our lives decrease, and with them our essential corroboration. Now [he] had some all too unwelcome corroboration of what [he] was, or had been” (Barnes, 98). This goes to show how altering behaviors can alter one self and how memory can affect us for the rest of our