How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
[...] an' years passin' an' ev'ry drumbeat one more life shedded off of me, yay, I glimpsed all the lifes my soul ever was till far-far-back b'fore the Fall [...] (6.1.251)
Zachry's having one of those "life flashing before your eyes" moments, but in his case, he's seeing lives flash before his eyes. His culture believes in reincarnation, so it makes sense that he would see a whole cycle of memories.
Quote #8
Memories refused to fit, or fitted but came unglued. Even months later, how would I know if some major tranche of myself remained lost? (8.1.12)
In case you're having memory problems like Cavendish, about four quotes ago we mentioned how he felt like a powerful memory had taken him back in time. What if that memory weren't exactly true? How would that affect his perception of the past, and his actions in the present?
Quote #9
The actual past is brittle, ever-dimming + ever more problematic to access + reconstruct: in contrast, the virtual past is malleable, ever-brightening + ever more difficult to circumvent/expose as fraudulent. (9.41.4)
Some people say that no memories are real: just like colors, noises, and sounds, they're all a series of electrical impulses in the brain. But they seem real. Because of this, it's possible to change someone's memory of the past—and control his or her perception of it.