Remembrance of Things Past: Place Names: The Name & Madame Swann at Home

You hear it said that each person is given the same amount of time in their day. To a certain degree, I suppose this to be true. But Proust introduces a concept that I had not considered that "in our lives the days are not equal" (424). He further explains his theory by stating days come in different gears. He finds that "there are mountainous, arduous days, up which one takes an infinite time to climb, and downward-sloping days which one can descend at full tilt, singing as one goes" (424). Each day contains 24 hours; each hour has 60 minutes; each minute has 60 seconds… But a day can contain many different moments that can last a second or an afternoon. Or a day can simply contain the 1440 minutes and have no extraordinary moments. In life, there are times—often unpleasant—that simply seem to drag on. Those fleeting moments of happiness seem to be more difficult to hang on to.

Marcel's infatuation with Gilberte Swann also sparks some insightful remarks about humanity. With each individual that one has interactions with, "a new personality" is developed (465). Around different people, someone can exaggerate certain traits that will fit that particular group. In a family setting, someone is completely different than at work or out with friends. On that same thought, love has the ability to create "a supplementary person whom the world knows by the same name, a person most of whose constituent elements is derived from ourselves" (505). In English when someone is in love and has a relationship, the lovers know one another on entirely different levels than regular acquaintances. One person is able to have those multiple personalities to fulfill their different roles.

Proust wrote Remembrance of Things Past more than a century ago, yet it continues to mirror some aspects of current American life. The growing dissatisfaction and inability to find contentment grows further out of many people's reach. Proust finds that people "continue to struggle and hope a little longer, but happiness can never be achieved" (672). Why? Once we overcome our circumstances, there is nothing to fight for and we lose our sense of appreciation for that which we strive for. We find "the phenomenon of happiness either fails to appear, or at once gives rise to the bitterest reactions" (672). If we continue to pursue empty dreams, we will never be fulfilled.

In the middle of Madame Swann at Home, one small snippet discusses the magic of the New Year and new beginnings. Marcel is disappointed in people who "cease to believe in the New Year" and believe any new goals are futile (526). I pondered this for a bit and hope that I shall never become one of those who don't believe in the magic of the New Year. I firmly believe that every individual has the ability to change, reform habits, and grow as an individual. The New Year offers every one the opportunity to examine their lives and improve them.