Whenever a change occurs in our spiritual life and fragments like these emerge, we believe we can remember. But in reality, of course, memory fails us. Too many buildings have collapsed, too much rubble has accumulated, the moraines and deposits are unsurpassable. If I look back at Berlin now, Michael writes, all I see is a dark background with a gray spot, a slate pencil drawing some unclear numbers and letters in gothic writing, blurry and half erased with a damp rag. (Chapter 7, pages 177-8) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In this passage WG Sebald, the author of "The Rings of Saturn," shows how loss and war, as well as feelings of anxiety and fear of the unknown, can alter your perspective and perhaps have a lasting impact . Immediately before this passage Sebald had just emerged from a labyrinth and found himself in the village of Middleton to visit the writer Michael Hamburger. Sebald explains this passage by explaining that in November 1933 Michael and his entire family were leaving Berlin to live in a stone house in Edinburgh. During the passage from one place to another, something happens to them at Dover customs that seems to reinforce the feelings of fear and anxiety related to the whole situation. Michael's grandfather brought with him this pair of budgies, which I had no idea what they were, and they survived this far only to be somehow seized. A sentence later I realize that wavy parrots are a type of bird. So they find themselves in an unfamiliar area having just left their home in Berlin with few physical reminders of their time in Berlin except the absolute essentials, and then their grandfather's beloved pets are tragically taken away. Michael explains how this moment, although at the same time to outsiders it was probably just someone doing their job and perhaps confiscating something they might have deemed dangerous, was the beginning of the disappearance of childhood memories. This proves to me that wavy parrots are more than just pets that symbolize the whole situation that Michael and his family find themselves in. I personally couldn't even begin to imagine having to uproot from the only home I know to an unfamiliar location that's "suppose" better. However, at the same time as Michael is bombarded with strange noises, smells and sensations, along with the external struggles that affect him, he also has internal struggles of anxiety and fear that seem to be a recurring theme. They have no idea whether this move will be better for them in the long term, as they say, blindly believing that Edinburgh will work for everyone and that the whole experience will be worth it. (PG 176) Now, to understand why this family is leaving behind everything they knew, I had to do some research on what was going on in Berlin at the time. Was it a war they were fleeing from? After my research, let's just say I was embarrassed to realize that World War II was going on during that time period and I have no idea how this slipped my mind. Anyway, after the brief moment of memory loss, I realized that it was a total moment of presupposition where Sebald assumes that he doesn't need to state the circumstances at hand, simply pointing to a moment in the book before the passage for which he is presenting a reason. the events that happen afterwards. Which is extremely important in this context because it shows that Michael and his family are not uprooting for anything, they are actually fleeing the destruction and devastation of war.