The Power of Writing in In the Country of Last Things

Inscriptions of Survival: The Power of Writing in a World on the Brink of Oblivion

Author: Kazuma 

First-year student at U of Tsukuba

Publication permission granted in February 2024 

Introduction

In the novel "In the Country of Last Things," the act of writing down a memory is an act of great significance. In the country where the main character, Anna, comes from, everything is rapidly losing its existence, even the words used to describe it. This is no exception for people whose government has always strictly controlled the recovery and burial of corpses. This makes it extremely difficult for individuals to preserve their existence for posterity. Anna, her brother Sam, and her husband William, who were placed in such a situation, each tried to keep a record, although it was unusual. Here, we explore the meaning of writing (or spinning letters) in this world on the brink of oblivion.

What is to record

The dictionary meaning of the word record (verb to record) is “a written account of something that is kept so that it can be looked at and used in the future” (Oxford Learner's Dictionaries). Thus, recording is preserving the past for the future using words that already exist according to the rules of language or creating something that did not exist in the past (mainly new writings and, as something invisible, the relationship with the person who reads them). More to the point, an event cannot be the past if not written down. This is also true for a person’s existence, meaning that he/she can only continue to exist in this world by recording it. With this in mind, I will consider the meaning of writing for each of the characters in the work.

A record for Sam, William, and Anna 

Originally, William's mission was to look objectively at the situation in the country and report back to his home country. Suddenly, however, William disappeared, and Sam was sent to replace him. Their records stood in stark contrast to Anna's personal experience. But they had put their lives on the line, both as a job and as a mission, to leave an objective written record of the situation in this country. Despite the hopeless situation, weaving history in this way became a reason for Sam to live, or, for him, more important than his own life. 

Anna, on the other hand, believed that writing was an act of creating something new in the world, that is, an act that leads to life, the contrasting act of extinction and death. Despite some frustration, Worban House, which had become her spiritual home and base of life, collapsed. It was after this event that Anna began to write letters, perhaps reaffirming the providence of this country, where everything is always disappearing at an alarming rate. ”One by one they disappear and never come back. I can tell you of the ones I have seen, of the ones that are no more, but I doubt there will be time. It is all happening too fast now, and I cannot keep up“ (Auster 1). From what Anna writes, it is clear that she has no hope of receiving this letter (record). ”It’s like calling out into the blankness, like screaming into a vast and terrible blankness“ (Auster 124). Still, in this world where everything is disappearing, it seems that she found a reason to live, despite her despair, by leaving a document of her existence. In this way, Sam, William, and Anna put their lives on the line to leave behind, and Anna even found hope to live further tomorrow. (How writing down the events is almost the only way to show that they lived in the world of this story, and a powerful motivation to live further).

Boris and language 

Boris did not record his work in writing. But no one spoke more eloquently than he did, and no character in the world is more despairing. Let us consider the power of words in his words and actions. One of the characteristics of his words and actions is "preposterous, but he invented them so quickly came up with such elaborate details, kept talking with an air of such conviction" (Auster 101). This is a way for him to overcome the harshness of unbearable reality by creating a different world and believing in it. This is considered to be the realization that “language and storytelling have the power to create an illusion which can obscure the reality of a cruel” (Pascariu 683). In this way, he continues to live by transforming the world into something acceptable to him that is different from the world he now exists in through words.

Conclusion

When thinking about past events, it is difficult to understand exactly what happened because there is no time machine. Since human memory is so vague that we cannot even remember what we had for dinner just a few days ago, it is easy to recognize the importance of recording the past. This highlights that writing is a great human invention for knowing the past. By tracing records, we can learn about past events and those who lived in those times. Furthermore, words enable us to create new worlds, like novels and screenplays, and help people to live their reality. Writing with words in this way allows us to express the meaning of our existence and to find hope for life.

Works Cited

• "Record, n." Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2022, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/record_1?q=record.

• Pascariu, Lucia Hedviga. “Entropy and Loss: Paul Auster’s In the Country of Last Things.” Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 92, 2013, pp. 678 – 685.