The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is a calming and hypnotizing novel that tells the story of a future civilization that is under mass surveillance by the state that governs it. It explores self-discovery in a world where there’s no privacy and daily life is constantly controlled and manipulated by the powers that be. Despite the novel being published almost three decades ago, it’s themes and ideas resonate to date especially with the emergence of advanced technological capabilities that are giving rise to mass surveillance and fake news.
The novel begins on an island that is controlled by an authoritarian government. Civilians begin to experience moments of amnesia where their minds are programmed to forget certain objects in existence like birds, boats, roses, and hats. The authoritarian government in turn eradicates all evidence of that object from existence. Some civilians are immune to this manipulation and therefore seek to revolt against the government. A police unit designated as the ‘Memory Police’ is dispatched to enforce this new way of life, rooting and destroying any form of resistance against the new order. This new order forces people who are immune to live in hiding, fearing what the police would do to them.
The Memory Police follows a novelist who decides to hide her editor who is immune under her house. Through these experiences of disobeying the government, they find solace in writing and expressing themselves through words. The novel explores more than just the struggle against an authoritarian rule and delves deep into the ideas of universal control, fear, and death. When certain objects cease to exist in physical and mental form, so do the memories associated with them. Some of these memories make up the core identity of certain individuals, and when taken away, leaves them in a state of emptiness, pointlessness.
The novelist and her editor fight to remember the things that have been forgotten through their works of literature. The novel tackles a significant idea of freedom, where without it, civilization ceases to progress and it simply stagnates, leaving the people without hope or any form of individualism.
