The Confessions is the general title for thirteen autobiographic stories of Saint Augustine, dated 397-398 A.D. They contain the narrative about Saint Augustine’s life and his way of conversion to Christianity. Being the first detailed autobiographic in European literature, the book has served as a literary example for Christian writers for a millennium. The Confessions captures only a part of the author’s life journey, namely 33 years from 40, but it involves highly valued figures concerning his spiritual growth and changing philosophical and religious views. The Confessions include an appropriate number of deep insights, especially regarding religion, but the attention will be drawn to the relevant ones. The purpose of this paper is to outline the topic, which is covered in the book, that may be applied to present-day developments and responses to me.
The central part of the book is devoted to reflections on memory. Saint Augustine states that memory consists of images, which appear immediately when a person is willing to remember some facts or events. People may dispose of everything, except for the ones they have forgotten. At that moment, they meet themselves and start remembering what they have done, where and when, what feelings have experienced, and what method they have applied. Memory is the place, where all the knowledge is stored, which an individual has obtained while getting acquainted with Liberal Arts and Sciences.
It is worthy of note that memory contains no images of subjects, but the very subjects. Saint Augustine explains: “I name the image of the sun, and that image is present in my memory. For I recall not the image of its image, but the image itself is present to me, calling it to mind. I name memory, and I recognize what I name. And where do I recognize it, but in the memory itself? Is it also present to itself by its image, and not by itself?” (Saint Augustine 464).
This way, the memory appears to be the soul of a person. The author claims: “The memory then is, as it were, the belly of the mind, and joy and sadness, like sweet and bitter food” (Saint Augustine 464). An individual stores a comprehensive image of himself or herself inside too. Dismissing the theological world perception, which is not congenial with my own one, I find this reflection prominent. As adjusted to the present-day developments, memory implies an individual’s experience, his or her choices, preferences, and the soul in general. All the aforementioned happenings form the story of an individual. That is why the author highlights the significance of confessions, which imply analyzing and reconsidering the previous experience and teaching a lesson via it. This approach is a successful way for self-development and improving personal traits, which is relevant even nowadays, as it allows to correct the mistakes and avoid their repetition. This way, it appears to be the key strategy for becoming a better person in the moral aspect.
In summary, despite the fact that The Confessions was written in the fifth century, it contains meaningful thoughts, which should be drawn attention even today. It is evident that it includes the perceptive of Medieval perception of the world, but if they are dismissed, their morals can be applied to modern reality. For instance, Saint Augustine’s considerations on memory are very deep and immortal. Contemporaries should not underestimate the necessity to analyze the previous experience, confess mistakes, and conclude its base.
Work Cited
Saint Augustine. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. Translated by E. B. Pusey, Project Gutenberg, 2002. Project Gutenberg E-book, Web.