There is no account of what “truth” is. There is no definitive account that confirms facts or records exact facts. Also, when translated to another person, the truth could mean something different, therefore making it not the original truth.

The concept of story truth combines what happened in reality and details that an author adds to the story to create a more meaningful picture of a certain event. Author Sean Murphy explored this theme and others within his memoir titled “Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone” at Bowers Writers House on Monday, Nov. 3.

Murphy’s memoir is about the five years during which he and his family suffered through the battle with his mother’s cancer. He wanted to make his memoir different and not include medical terminology or chronological details, but instead create a more universal story that can be interpreted by people who have not had a mother deal with cancer.

Murphy went in-depth about how the memoir dived into how he was feeling and the thought process around it. Internalization is what Murphy was primarily looking for with this book. He wanted it to be cognitive about his grieving and make it relatable to others who are grieving about different things or on a different level.

He wanted “to interrogate the writing as it was happening.” Murphy said that many memoirs about cancer seem to be about getting a merit badge for withstanding the suffering, but he didn’t want his book to be like that. He wanted to make it universal. “A book that’s written like this could be didactic,” Jesse Waters, director of Bowers Writers House and lecturer in English, commented. Murphy agreed and said he wanted to create his memoir in a new way that did not have a “you won’t believe what happened next” attitude in it. He wanted the book to be reflective and focus on individual internalization.

“You don’t need to prove what happened,” Murphy said. His memoir doesn’t take itself too seriously and provides the reader with the correct tools to allow an individual to relate the narrative to his or her own life on any level. Overall, it helps try to answer the question of what makes us tick. “I love the way the book talks about itself,” Waters said after the reading.

Murphy started by reading a section that contemplated one’s existence alone, but acknowledges the need for support from friends and family. He also talked about how the title “Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone” can relate to everyday life and the need for an existence. He said it could relate to any work of art or the idea of simple verbal communication.

Another section was about him in the hospital with his mother and how he fell in love with a girl smiling while pushing an older gentleman in a wheelchair. The reason he fell in love with her and several other women at the hospital is because they could relate to his situation. He did not fall in love with the female surgeon, however, because he felt she could not relate to his situation.

Another deep theme Murphy brought to everyone’s attention was the fact that you never forget the loss because “the grief is the best gift [the deceased loved one] can give you.” The best thing for the deceased person is that they are not forgotten. He also clarified that getting “over it” doesn’t happen, as he was told by one of his girlfriends.

Murphy  did not write the memoir in a linear fashion. Rather, he wanted to experiment with the timing and see what worked best for incorporating his interrogation and internalization of the text.

One major theme that he talked about was worrying. Murphy said that worrying is always going to be present in an individual’s life. When you are done worrying about one thing, there are other things to be worrying about. Relating it to his book, he said he was worried about his mother dying until she died, then he was worried about his siblings and their children and his father.

In summary, Murphy demonstrated through his reading how his memoir differs from others by creating a universal setting for the readers to interpret in their own personal ways. He didn’t want his memoir to be another book about dealing with a family member dying from cancer; he wanted the reader to relate to it.

After the event, Murphy signed copies of his memoir for the students in attendance.