Annie Ernaux (the narrator)
Annie is the central character in the memoir, and in the first sections, she uses photographs to describe herself. The narrator takes readers to her past and explains how she struggled to fight for her place in society because it was patriarchal. Interestingly, the narrator notifies readers that the Catholic Church was part of the system that segregated women and treated them as inferior human beings. The narrator also takes readers through her childhood days and her experiences in school, which in one way or the other, shaped her current life.
In the last sections, the narrator explains how she became an activist to fight for her rights and those of fellow women. The narrator says that she wanted to experience freedom and explore her potential. Therefore, she divorced her husband and left him with the children because she wanted to experience independence and freedom of choice. After the divorce, she lives alone and feels refreshed because she can make decisions not dictated by her husband.
Mother
The protagonist's mother is a strong character she refers to throughout the story. The narrator uses a series of photographs to explain the significance of her mother in her life. The narrator's mother is a loving and hardworking woman. Despite the narrator's mother is poor, she does her level best to ensure her daughter gets the best. Consequently, when the narrator becomes a mother, she understands what her mother went through while raising her.
Father
The narrator’s father is also talked about through photographs that the narrator describes throughout the memoir. Through the narrator’s description, the readers learn that the father died a painful death that left his family devastated. However, the striking point is that the narrator's father was patriarchal, and he supported the church on its stand concerning societal norms. Therefore, one of the things the narrator differs from her father is having a strong stand that segregates women.
Catholic Church
The narrator describes the Catholic Church as a system that contributed to the segregation of women in France in the 18th century. The narrator remembers how the church told men to interact with women cautiously. The composition of the church leadership is another concern because superior positions are reserved for men. For instance, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is patriarchal because women are placed in the lower ranks, and no one is supposed to question the authority and composition of the church.
