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THE FORM AND THE HISTORY
215 what he is out of what he had earlier been. The narrative pattern imposed upon the facts, too, falsifies history. Autobiography is rather a recreation of his personality from his memory. Autobiographical writing, as a result, instead of becoming a mere historical record, becomes a work of art.
The autobiographer's interpretation of any event of his life depends upon the period of his life during which it is written. An event recorded in the autobiographer's youthful journal is likely to be somewhat different from that same event recollected in later years. Memory being plastic, the autobiographer regenerates his materials and shapes them as he uses them sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously.
The difference between a biography and an autobiography should be noted. A biography is a studiously prepared well-documented account of some one's life. Normally a trained historian does it. It is supposed to be objective and truthful.
An autobiography on the other hand is an account of the life of its writer built up by him with the help of his memory. Its one great limitation, consequently, is that memory may fail at times and factual errors may vitiate the account. Another is that the writer may often try consciously or unconsciously to magnify his little merit, if he happens to be egoistic, or may belittle his merit if he happens to be very humble. Too much of humility or pride may falsify the account But one great advantage the autobiographer has over the biographer, provided he is sincere, is that he is able to present the interior side of the life, the consciousness of the subject as it has grown through conflicts and trials and struggles. Rightly read, an autobiography may prove to be complementary to the objective biographical account of a life.
A close study of the well-known autobiographies of the world reveal that an autobiographer writes the story of his own life to justify himself and his actions before the public (Morarjibhai Desai's The Story of My Life), at times to spite or annoy the readers (Kamala Das's My Story) or just for the pleasure of self-revelation (Nehru's Autobiography), often to confess his past errors and moral lapses (Gandhi's My Experiments with Truth). He could present a chronicle of life around him in his age. (Nehru's Autobiography and Nirad Chaudhuri's Thy Hand Great Anarch). He could even include in a way the whole history of the nation. (Nirad Chaudhuri's Autobiography of an Unknown Indian). He writes to tell people some of the events and facts of his life so that they can understand him properly. But how far does he exhibit himself and his history? The answer to this question will change from autobiography to autobiography. The autobiographer may achieve success in varying degrees in realizing his purpose.
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