On the Verge Between Memory and Reality

Focusing on the Trading Cities of Euphemia, Chloe, Eutropia and Ersilia, I can say that the book is a compilation of all the characteristics of a utopic society. For instance, both Euphemia and Eutropia are evidence of this. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could simply escape our reality every once in a while? Wouldn’t it be ideal to simply drift into a distant parallel universe where we didn’t have to deal with everything we constantly have pressing on us, closing in on us as we shrink within a bower. This is another of the many functions and purposes of Calvino’s cities, they are the very representation of human desire, of human need, and above all of human idealizing. As it is described in Euphemia, who wouldn’t want to be able to exchange memories with others? To simply trade them as if they were no more than ordinary merchandise? “And you know that in the long journey ahead of you, when to keep awake against the camel's swaying or the junk's rocking, you start summoning up your memories one by one, your wolf will have become another wolf, your sister a different sister, your battle other battles, on your return from Euphemia, the city where memory is traded at every solstice and at every equinox.” (Calvino,) in this passage, Calvino subtly points out the cons of pretending to be rid of our lives and what they are most importantly made up of: our memories. Although at times we tend to wish we were someone else, although we wish we led that life, had that family, owned those memories, we sooner or later realize the importance of keeping and protecting what is our own, for it is our home. Our choices are what define us in life, and without our memories, those choices we make would not be possible. While our choices are what define us, it is our memories that build us into person capable of making those choices.