Photographs, Memory, and the Masks We Wear

Donald M. Murray, an author who once served in the military actively reflects on a wartime photograph of himself. In doing so, he emphasizes how much time has changed and a lifetime of memories start accumluate In the end, Murray uses several influential rhetorical devices, such as paradox, metaphors, and contrast in order to argue that taking photos capture our reality and consstructed versions of ourselves, because as time changes we have no choice but to change as well.

         Shortly after opening, Murray uses paradox in order to emphasize the disconnect between the subject of the photograph and the person he has become. For example, paragraph two briefly states, "The people in snapshots are all strangers." Murrays demonstrates that the people in the photo have changed as time has altered his perception. His quote contributed to his argument about how we percieve and relate to our past selves, as photos capture only a fraction of human experience; what is in the frame does not tell a whole story. Murray's intent was not to his describe the people in the image as literal strangers, but it was to emphazise how far a long he and his family have come, and how different things were back then-- not only have they changed physically, but they act in a different manner.  Murray's paradox, helps create a sense of nostalgia to his audience as they are encouraged to take a trip in the past, not only in the perspective of himself, but to stimulate how life was past was for them as well before future experiences and the ongoing process of time impacted their lives both for the better and for the worse.

         On top of that, his strong use of metaphors immeserses the reader to into his feelings, exploring more into his vulnerability. Murray states, "I loved to dress up to become what I was not, and I suspected I am still the wearer of masks."  This quote uses a metaphor to illustrate the author sense of idetntity, as the mask he mentions symbolize the different roles and personas he has onsumed over time, and a disconnection deom himself. Additionally, the strong weight felt by the phrase "wearer of masks" employs the reader to understand that Murray feels that the mask was a form of dishonesty, something used in order to hide his frightened self from those who were counting on him back at home. 

         Furthermore, Murray strongly contrasts himself as the person he is now with the person he once was. By stating, "One more I return to the photograph and become what I was, not as I am now, but as I was then" the reflection on "what I was" versus "What I am now" ties back to his earlier statements about masks and identity, and how those changes distance us from our past. He highlights the emotional tension in looking at a photograph as it takes the author back to a moment of his past, but it does make him the person he once was. Thus, emphasizing how photography perserves a moment that no longer reflects the person past. Murrays figurative language encourages the reader to feel deeply about his life, and sympathize all the troubles he been through. Additionally, Murray contrasts the young smiling boy, and the older, experienced man after serving in the war. Murray states, "The soldier smiles as if he knew his innocence and is both eager for its loss and nostalgic for those few years of naviete behind him." Murray goal in using this device, is to explain how naive he was due to the lack of being experienced. In doing so, he shifts the mood from contempt, to melancholious. Murray establishes that he nad no true worris prior to the war, as things were going good for him; he had no idea that his life would become what it was now, in the present. Nevertheless, by demonstrating his feelings though constrast, he connects with the older audience as they can better understand him and his thoughts, as he knows that those who had particpated in the war for the most part were ignorant of the seriousness and toils of what war really does to you, and a contrast that resonsates with older veterans who were naive as well. He had not yet seen his first fallen soldier, the death of his mother, or even the dissolution to his marriage prior to orld war II. 

       Overall, the Donald. M. Murray argument in order to convey his complex reflection of identity, time, and memory is highly effective through the use of paradox, metaphors, and constrasting of his younger and oder self. Through these devices, Murray builds a compelling case for past photographs, as he influences the readerts to think about not only the limit graphs as a represent of time, but also their identity and emotional impact it has on one.