Differences and Interest Levels

If Augustine would have written his memoir as a novel, I will admit that I would have read it with more enthusiasm. However, I don’t think his arguments would have come across so clearly. In fictional memoirs situations are presented in which their meaning is not fully interpreted until the reader has gained more insight later on. Therefore, one cannot truly grasp exactly what is the meaning of a certain situation. For example, in "Invisible Man" an event happens (like Mr. Norton’s reaction to Trueblood’s account) where the narrator doesn’t explain to the reader why this event is of importance. Because the narrator is not there to intervene and explain occurrences, the reader is left to continue reading and extricate the importance of situations and find patterns to understand what it is that the narrator wants you to realize about occurrences. Yet in "Confessions", Augustine presented his situations (like the stealing of the pears) and then proceeded to explain why this situation was so important in his life.

As a reader, I like to be challenged and figure things out on my own. Therefore I like that Ellison presented this story as a novel. With "Confessions" I felt as if I was being “spoon-fed” Augustine’s ideas without being allowed much room for self-thought. But with Ellison, I am allowed to ponder upon what it is that Ellison wants us to understand and I am given much freedom to come up with my own conclusions.

If Ellison would have written under a non-fictional memoir then I think I would have still read with interest (because some of the moments in the book are pretty interesting) but I don’t think I would have read with much curiosity. What I mean is that I wouldn’t have been as interested in his story. This may sound bad but I would have seen it as just another guy writing in a straight-forward way about his life. The difference is that my interest levels would have been lowered.