Memento Mori by Nathan Nolan follows a man who was in an accident that has left him scarred and crippled. Earl is looking for the killer of his wife but must manage to do so while only having a ten-minute memory. Never the less Nolan captures a dark and mournful theme. Nolan refers to the main characters funeral multiple times leaving the reader already wondering what is going on with his character and what he's been through. His wife is lightly spoken about during the beginning of the story and sets the stage for the reader to wonder where she is. 

 

During Earls first wake you see all his notes and wonder about them as Earl is. The reader soon realizes that Earl is just as puzzled as they are. This brings a relation between the reader and Earl. That revelation brings more questions and makes the reader care for his past. After more notes written by Earl are seen, less is explained in full leaving so much more to be desired. At this point of the story Nolan turns to a darker side, describing Earls physical scares and a note under his sink that tells a dreadful tale "If you are reading this your a fucking coward, P.S. After you've read this, hide it again". 
 

 

This is a powerful statement, Earl wrote this and this is something he is very passionate about. It both calls for action from Earl and provokes him to remember something important. Earl goes through more of his episodes of his condition and before you know it he's getting a tattoo. Nolan doesn't explain how Earl got here. Stepping back, time gaps are typically seen in mediocre writing, however Nolan brings life and real meaning to having a time gap. Readers already care about Earl and want to know about his past, while how he escaped from his captivity is interesting being as confused as Earl is much more impactive to readers.  

 

It may be hard to relate to Earl completely, Nolan puts the reader in Earls shoes by the style of the writing. During this tattoo it is revealed that someone has rapped and killed Earls wife. He gets a tattoo that says "I rapped and killed your wife". Another strong statement, at this point the reader can connect Earls wife's death and his letter to himself. Both statements are strong and connect to each other, these two notes to Earl call him to action and demand to be remembered. The two notes are symbolism for Earls desire to remember what happened to his wife and his raw emotion to the event that he cannot remember. The reader will understand Earls pain and from this point on be informed even less as to the events that take place after this. 

 

Most of the story is put in bits and pieces much like Earls experience would be, Earl seems to be arrested at some point and very intent on writing something down. Earl may have exacted his vengeance on this man or simply was arrested during his hunt. Earl has most likely killed someone, however was it the right man? The reader never knows because Earl couldn't write anything down. This is a particularly hard way to tell a story and not make the reader angry, Nolan does a fantastic job at turning this around because the reader connection to Earl is stronger than ever. During the story the reader is given nothing that Earl doesn't and the reader is experiencing the frustration that Earl must have, as you hear that Earl wants so desperately to write something down and the reader wants to give him the paper he pines for.     
 

 

The end monologue is by far the most important to the story, Earl as a character is explained by the view on Judgment day. Earl is justifying his actions and revealing his own cynical view on life and its consequences. Earl wanted to avenge his wife and he couldn't bring himself  to hunt his wife's killer. In this moment you see that part of Earl that drove him to overcome his weakness and disabilities to achieve his goal. You see the motivation that inspired him to write his hidden letter and his tattoo reminder. Earl is frozen in time so his development was lost the second he couldn't write down what he had done to get himself in the squad car. 

 

 Nolan finishes the story by having the reader relate to Earl one last time by these words, "This is the tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day, every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight, whatever you want to call them. The clouds part, the planets get in a neat little line, and everything becomes obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or here's how I could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to eternal happiness.That's the miserable truth. For a few moments, the secrets of the universe are opened to us. Life is a cheap parlor trick"  

 

The reader sees how similar they or people in general may be to Earl in certain lights. Nolan grips the reader into thinking above what they know and to take a moment to indulge the philosophical  view of the reader. It Both closes the curtain of the story on the same sad theme inspiring dread and melancholy followed by cynical bitterness of an old Earl reliving the same 10 minutes for the rest of his days.