Mementos *Spoilers*

[BitterSeason]

I'll do my best to cover up any spoilers that I might make.. though I will try my hardest not to make them. Also, I wasn't 100% sure if this belongs here. If it doesn't belong, I apologize. Also, I am not sure if memento names count as spoilers, exactly... OH! I also looked to see if there was another thread like this, but I found none... I hope creating this is alright. *panics because this is her first thread outside of the "introduce yourself" part*

Anyway! This thread all has to do with matter of opinion! I am not stating any of these as facts!

Though it had no effect on the outcome of the game and no reward except for the giving one the satisfying feeling of completion, finding the mementos was one of my favorite parts of Shattered Memories. I liked that it showed another, more tangible, layer of

REVEAL SPOILER

Cheryl's

memories. It kind of grounded it as more real for me, seeing the things that they held dear at some point or another. I also loved that most of them weren't just in plain sight, and that they actually required a bit of effort to recover all twenty-five.

My favorite mementos would have to be Pinned Beauty, Infinite Jest, Poetry as Precise as Geometry, Eve, and Adam. I guess maybe because I think they're pretty? Both Adam and Eve also hit me strongly because

REVEAL SPOILER

of how the locket was separated, like a broken marriage. (Maybe I am just reading a bit far into it... I don't know if it was to be intentional, but that is how I saw it.. and seeing that made me think of the trials I went through when my own parents divorced).

The ones that I think were the most creatively hidden were Your Diamond Heart, Memories Untaken, and Eve. Which, to be clear on what I mean, were hidden in

REVEAL SPOILER

the telescope near Annie's Bar at the Lakefront (Your Diamond Heart), inside the box that the indian statue held in front of the cigar store (Memories Untaken), and in the working slot machine, which you needed to get a jackpot with to get the memento (Eve).

I want to know what everyone else thought of the mementos!
Did you like that they were included or did you just mark them off as completely pointless?
Did you have any favorites or ones that you connected to personally? Any ones that you thought were stupid?
Did you have fun finding them? Did you have a favorite spot in which one was hidden, be it for the creativity with which it was hidden or because it was silly?

I would love to hear what you thought of them!

[nur_ein_tier]

I liked the location of Your Diamond Heart, also. The slot machine was fun too. I liked the inclusion of them a lot, I liked going around collecting them. Doesn't matter relating to the game endings, but I thought it enhanced the game experience.

Here's some of my thoughts on the mementos:

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A Winter Beacon
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“Covering Himself with light as with a cloak.
Stretching out the heavens as a curtain" is on a
sticker on the bottom.

Lighthouses are everywhere in this game. For those of
us who played SH1, we are led to believe that we'll
probably end up at the actual lighthouse where Harry
sees Alessa in SH1. This doesn't happen; the lighthouse
is The Lighthouse Clinic. The lighthouse also helped
James get across the lake in SH2. Regardless of whether
it's an actual lighthouse or not, the lighthouse is
still Cheryl's actual, physical location. Everything
points to the lighthouse. And what is a lighthouse for?
It helps people find their way in the dark or in storms.
It points ships in the right direction. Harry is confused
and he's unsure where he's going, so it makes sense that
he's pointed toward the lighthouse. When he's finally close,
on the frozen lake, Dahlia calls and says. "Turn back!
For our daughter's sake!" This is because the lighthouse
is where the truth about everything is, all is revealed
there. The whole delusion falls apart when he gets to the
lighthouse, that's why Dahlia tells him to turn back
for Cheryl's sake. If he gets there, Cheryl will finally
have to face her feelings about her father's death.

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Hidden Fire
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This is a pack of Hemingway Ultra Lights cigarettes. There
are a few Hemingway references, and when Ernest introduces
himself to Maria in SH2, she says, "Ernes Hemingway?" (On
a related note, compare when Harry introduces himself to
Lisa in SHSM: "I'm Harry." "Harry Houdini?"). It may also
be because Heather interacts with the cigarettes in SH3,
saying she quit. Cheryl smokes in SHSM, also, if you go by
the problem child messages about smoking in a nonsmoking zone.

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Frozen Waters
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There is ice everywhere in the game, obviously, and icy
imagery. There is also the frigid messages, referring to more
sexual problems, as well as Cheryl being stuck in a state of
not dealing with Harry's death.

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A Broken Ward
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Andrea LeMay suggests this refers to antirape wards.Flashlights
and whistles have been used for this purpose, and this
fits in well with where it's found: in the lodge, where
the partiers were. There are condoms and clothes strewn
about. Why a "broken" ward, though? It didn't work.
Probably this isn't in any literal sense, but rather,something
bad happened at the party. This changes depending on your
actions, but it's clear that all is not well. There are
drugs and there is drinking, there's the bloody sleeping
bag in the snow, and the other lodge with the shadow kneeling
over a bloody sheet. I discussed this elsewhere, but kneeling
over a bloody sheet could mean a lot of things, and the
bloody sleepingbag and talk of Cheryl removing all her clothes
while on drugs reinforce the possibilities.

It could also just be symbolic of Cheryl feeling less
protected without her father.

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A Moveable Feast
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"All stories end in death" is engraved on the knife
handle. This is also another Hemingway reference.
Hemingway commmitted suicide, which could be connected
to the words on the handle. It also brings to mind
Angela and the knife in SH2. It's found in a hunting
lodge, which also brings us back to death; there are
slaughtered animals all around, which could be
connected to the idea of a "feast," but also with death.
It's also worth noting that there was a Cafe in SH1
called "A moveable Feast" in Central Silent Hill.

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Pinned Beauty
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This has an extinct butterfly pinned to it, and Harry
talks to Lisa about Cheryl collecting butterflies. Lisa
thinks it's creepy to collect dead bugs, even butterflies.
Harry emphasizes that they are "pretty bugs." Themes of
butterflies were important in SH1 and SH2. Here, I think
it refers to sexuality more than anything. Caterpillars
makes cocoons and emerge as butterflies; butterflies are
the mature, transformed state. When Harry died, Cheryl was
a young, immature, prepubescent girl. Now she's a grown
woman. The butterfly may be beautiful, but it's still a
bug to Lisa. I think this shows Cheryl's ambivalence about
growing up and becoming a woman, and being unsure about
sexuality.

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Suffocated Forever:
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A bug in a bead of amber. I think this represents how Cheryl
has trapped her image of Harry in her mind, she's preserved
him. There is a lot of suffocating and choking in the game,
as well, but I think this is more about preservation. When
you think of bugs trapped in amber, you think of bugs that
may have lived with the dinosaurs, yet they are still
perfectly preserved in their original state. Cheryl's memory
of Harry is preserved likewise.

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My Plastic Perfect Girl
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This appears to be a naked Barbie doll with pigtails. I think
it refers to womanhood, like the butterfly, and to sexuality.
She has pigtails like a little girl, but the body of a woman,
emphasized because the doll is nude. The pigtails echos talk
about a girl in a wig, a prostitute, who variously looks like
the man's daughter, or she's wearing a wig but not actually
very young, or that he hit her because he's angry with himself
and she looks so much like his daughter. A contrast between
the appearance of youth and one's actual age, as well as the
themes of Cheryl with older men.

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Heavenly Protection
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St. Christopher, who apparently has something to do with
transportation, and Harry died in a car crash.

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A Frigid Jewel
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"Ice Queen" is written on the band. More themes of being
frigid! Cheryl and her frigidity? I also find it interesting
that the "Jock" outfit for Harry says "Kings of the Ice."

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An Eternal Rose
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Just as one of the movies playing at the cinema is called
"Together Forever," there are a lot of themes of love, marriage,
and beauty and how long these things last or don't last.

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Infinite Jest
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Hamlet reference.

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Synthetic Femur
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This is a dog toy. Cheryl apparently had a well-loved dog
at some point. The principal thinks his dog is his one true
friend. I think in the context of the game, dogs may be a
symbol of unconditional love, or even good relationships
gone bad. The photos of the dog show happier times with
Cheryl and the dog, just like the video shows happier times
with Cheryl and Harry. In both cases, death caused these
happy times to end too soon, and now she only has photos
and videos to remind herself of them.

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Memories Undeveloped
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Roll of photos. Photos and videos play a large role in the
game, because they are Cheryl's way of keeping her father
alive. She replays old home movies endlessly.

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My Flying Lizard
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"Lost World Terry" is written on the tag. I think some of the toys
here merely represent childhood, but it's worth mentioning that
it's another extinct animal. The Xerxes Blue butterfly is also
extinct. While I don't know what kind of bug was in the amber,
it's possible that it's extinct as well. Extinct animals aren't
alive anymore; Harry is not alive anymore. One version of the pawn
shop has a taxidermied dodo bird, also extinct. I think the fact that
there are several taxidermied animals in the game is also related.
All versions of the pawn shop have one (dodo, lioness, peacock). There
is also the stuffed bear and several other animals in the hunting
lodge. Like the dead butterfly or the bug in amber, they are preserved.
Just like Cheryl's memories of Harry. Probably has nothing to do with
anything, but this reminds me of the green pterodactyl named
Pterry on Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

There are two books that this could refer to. One is Lost World by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which is about an expedition to the Amazon,
where dinosaurs and other extinct creatures still live. This
could refer to Harry living on in Cheryl's mind.

It could also be a reference to Michael Crichton, since there
is a Crichton St. in Silent Hill. Crichton's book The
Lost World, a sequel to Jurassic Park. It's been a while since I've
read these, but the premise was that scientists were using DNA matter
from dinosaurs to genetically engineer living dinosaurs on a
remote island.

In either case, dinosaurs, as well as Harry, are not around anymore.
In Crichton's books, the experiment goes horribly wrong. Dinosaurs
are strong and dangerous. It also brings to mind the Frankenstein
references, with dead or extinct things being reanimated.


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The Modern Prometheus
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Frankenstein doll, won from a machine in the cinema. Dr. K refers
to Cheryl's memory of Harry as Frankenstein-like, which is to say,
she's stitched it together from many parts to make something
which is different from what the real Harry was, it is part
reality (memory) and part fantasy. Frankenstein's monster was
made of parts of dead people and then reanimated with electricity.
Harry is dead, but he lives on in Cheryl's mind.

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We, Ouroboros
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"Love is a hungry drug" is engraved on the ring. This is probably
partially referring to the Ouroboros puzzle piece in SH1, but it's
noteworthy that it has two snakes and emphasizes "we."

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Poetry as Precise as Geometry
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"Everything one invents is true" engraved on a pen.
I think this tells how important memories are to Cheryl.
She lives inside her head, her memories, real or not,
are more real to her than anything. She may embellish
her memories of her father, but that doesn't make these
fantasies any less true and important to her.

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A Happy Bond
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This is a friendship bracelet discovered by making a fish
throw up. The ambiguity of emotions here is important.
"Sweetie" is written on the bead. Cheryl has a lot of
ambiguous feelings toward people, and probably her
relationships with others have suffered a lot from it.
She villifies her mother, who may not deserve it.
Harry calls her "sweetie" sometimes in the game, yet
the idea is not completely sweet, because of the vomiting
fish.

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A Beacon, A Key
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Another lighthouse. Because it's a keychain, it may refer
to the idea of what's really happening being unlocked, in
a sense, when you get to the Lighthouse.

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Your Diamond Heart
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More reference to marriage.

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The Dragon
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A red dragon, purchased at "Myths and Legends of
Lakeside." It refers to the videotape, where Harry
and Cheryl are being taped with their heads through
the board with the picture of a princess and a knight.
Harry explains that knights slay dragons. Cheryl is
the princess; Harry is the knight. The dragon, I think
is cheryl's personal demons, her not confronting
Harry's death, and allowing her denial to negatively
impact her life. Dragons are fantasy creatures, and
the game is a fantasy/delusion.

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Eve/Adam
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These two lockets have photos of Dahlia and Harry,
respectively. To a child, parents are like Adam and
Eve. The mother is the model for what a woman should be
like; the father the model for a man. If you bring Freud
into it, the opposite-sex parent is the model for one's
future mate. Cheryl seeks out older men who remind her
of her father. (If you go by the Lisa dialogue, she then
regrets it the next day.) "Never forget" is written on
Adam memento, obviously referring to Harry. "True
Happiness" is written next to Dahlia.

[from my faq: http://www.gamefaqs.com/wii/959196-sile ... faqs/58890 ]

[Centenaro]

I think your interpretation of the momentos are really good.

[Axiomatic]

I agree with a lot of what you said, nur. I'm just going to add onto some of them.

A Winter Beacon: The light can represent clarity in piecing together all the shattered memories.

Frozen Waters: Yeah, this seems to touch upon the fragmentation of Cheryl's memories as well as her inability to construct meaningful relationships. It seems her relationships endure the same sort of fragmentation.

A Broken Ward: I'm under the impression Cheryl was raped. Also, this ties in with how there is a lack of light in her world. Light tends to be a comforting thing, and darkness is something that is less so.

Pinned Beauty: I think it also has to do with how Cheryl tries to freeze frame beautiful things. She tries to capture things in their best state, and she tries to paint the best picture of things. Pinning up beauty is a way of her focusing on the nicer part of the bugs rather than, say, a bug in a maggot or pupa state.

Synthetic Femur: Yes, Cheryl desperately holds onto these memories. Memory is a funny thing. We think we remember things very clearly, but what we do is fill in the gaps. I think Cheryl tries to reexperience these things over and over, so she won't lose them because memory is something that kind of slips away from you easily.

Memories Undeveloped: Yes, they keep her father alive and prolong the fantasies she has about him. It's also a futile attempt to accurately remember things about him before they fade away.

The Modern Prometheus: Absolutely.

We, Ouroboros: From a psychological perspective, Ouroboros, in the work of Nietzsche, deals with our psychological connection to time. Cheryl constantly attempts to relive the past in the hope of preserving Harry, and she is thus stuck in this kind of cyclical pattern. It's like a nightmare where you try to run, but can't. Also, the Ouroboros eats its own tail, so this can refer to how Cheryl's habits are unhealthy and ultimately damaging because she is essentially eating herself with grief, fantasy, and so on.

Poetry as Precise as Geometry: Also, one's subjective experiences are very real to the person experiencing. In the case of those who are mentally ill and experience what we call auditory or visual hallucinations, try to tell those people the hallucinations aren't real.

The Dragon: Yep. Exactly.

Adam and Eve: For Eve, I think that some people view Eve as an evil person in that she tempted Adam into eating the fruit. So in some of the endings of Shattered Memories, this view of Dahlia as Eve represents Cheryl's psychological association of her mother as the cause of Harry/Dahlia's, that is, Adam and Eve's fall from grace.