Theories Of Time And Space By Natashia Trethewey Summary

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Natashia Trethewey’s work Beyond Katrina reflects on the past happenings that befell her hometown as well as that of her own brother Joe. Her poem “Theories of Time and Space” offers a powerful statement that encourages readers to think long and hard about its relation to the remainder of the story. The focus being on the concept of home and what it is means to not only be a part of one but also to be able to return to said home. Trethewey establishes this concept well throughout many aspects of her book, especially in her title choices and the way she phrases her words. In Pilgrim, the excerpt that follows Theories of Time and Space, the very title references the idea of continuous travel. Traveling with a purpose, a purpose that at times …show more content…

Almost immediately in the story we see Trethewey recounting the events that happened both before and after Katrina. Yet, these memories are not just that of her own. They are the memories of everyone she interviewed, Joes, her Grandmothers, and her own. Each one is used to retell a story. To recollect what once was and use that as not only a stepping stone of learning but also a pause in time. A pause that do not go forward or backwards, it remains constant. At least, as constant as the mind allows. It is when the mind begins to breakdown that there become alterations in these memories. For Trethewey Beyond Katrina and the poem within it called Theories of Time and Space are a collection of memories. In a section of her book called Liturgy, she says “such is the power of monumental objects to hold within them the weight of remembrance” (64), which is her way of saying that the book itself is a way to remember the Gulf Coast and its people. A bit further down she even states “I am not a religious woman. This is my liturgy to the Mississippi Gulf Coast” (64) meaning that perhaps in writing this particular book, Beyond Katrina, was meant to be a piece of literature that would reach a mass of people and through that- the stories of those whose lives were effected by Hurricane Katrina would be known and never

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