You know the feeling: You're enjoying your day and everything seems hunky-dory… until the past rises up in your mind and replaces your contentment with anger and sadness. That's how pretty much all the characters in One Whole and Perfect Day feel—haunted by damaged relationships, lost relatives, and regrets. Not only that, but they all have to learn to move beyond the past in order to create the futures they want. After all, no matter how deep their wounds are, revisiting their memories does little for solving the problems they've been dealt.
Questions About Memory and the Past
- What specific memories haunt each character the most? How do these memories affect the way they conduct their lives in the present?
- Why does Stan return to the neighborhood he grew up in? What is he hoping to find? What does he find instead?
- How has the absence of their father wounded both Lily and Lonnie? How are these wounds similar or different?
- How have the characters been encouraged or hurt by parental relationships?
Chew on This
While she may never have met him, Lily has suffered from her lack of a father just as much as Lonnie has.
The adult characters' decisions to let go of their pasts ultimately changes the directions their children are headed.