Discussion of Narratives by Beard and Sedaris' 'Remembering My Childhood on The Continent of Africa'

Beard and Sedaris brilliantly create narratives that read as a collection, each essay builds in depth, giving a broader narrative of the writer’s life than one essay alone can provide.

In her collection of memoir-essays, she uses metaphor to comparison and contrast, effectively allowing the reader to ascertaining her truths as she writes them. Beard’s imaginings of another universe are obviously imaginings; they reflect not the reality of life on those planets but, through detailed analogy, how she views herself while in that moment. In order to avoid sentimentality, Beard goes into a different realm, outer space. Not only is she watching the stars out in wilderness, and truly encompassed under the “terrible arch of the sky”, she also relates to the vast loneliness of such a great expanse. This all happens moments after taking Eric’s hand. He doesn’t ground her, and she doesn’t necessarily find solace in his presence. Rather, she is way down here, where “there is only the terrible arch in of the sky, the sagging moon, and nothing else.” The sky is uneasy with unpredictability, which Beard uses to establishes a sense of helplessness. This passage, on its own, is complex and connective. Her writing holds a beautiful sadness to it. Poetic and yet absurd, it makes sense in her mind and she stay true to herself throughout the piece.

Sedaris, in his essay, Remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa, sets out to tell us a story that actually belonged to his friend. Though in telling this story, he provides a comparison of his own childhood. His rather understated comparison of the two childhood events shows the almost comical and stark contrasts in experiences. Sedaris doesn’t mock Hugh, rather he provides the facts, as though he was telling a story from his own childhood. He doesn’t go out of his way to make a statement about Hugh or the environment that he was surrounded by in Ethiopia. In this way, the story holds true to its original storyteller. While shocking for anyone not accustomed to coming across dead men hanging from telephone poles, the narrative continues on as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. Instead when this story is relayed in the future, it is not a matter of the dead man that is noted, rather it is the fact that Hugh had been to see the movie about the talking car. Sedaris rather expertly avoids the dramatic trap that the story could allow for and instead allows the story to speak for itself. In his writing, Sedaris avoids self-centeredness and instead shares a true story that gives the reader an adventure through the experiences of others. Sedaris illuminates meaning through his rendition of the story. He draws comparison to events that are better understood by their unique contrasts, and yet the title of the essay is Remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa, in which he claims the experience as his own.

Both Beard and Sedaris rely on a comparison and contrast of the raw materials; this done correctly, allows the reader to see a deeper side of meaning. While Sedaris relies on an actual analogy to compare his childhood to, Beard goes out of this world, though none the less effective. In going beyond the raw material, both authors are then able to avoid self-centered narratives.