Flashbacks are literary devices that are popular in stories and novels, and have a big function in the work. A flashback is a part of the story in which the main character thinks of a past time, usually a memory, which is often very similar, or very different, to the present time. The function of one is to bring a reader back into the past of the main character, and describe the past through a memory that is in the middle of the main present storyline. The two stories “The Sandcastle” and “A Mason Dixon Memory” are both stories that include a flashback. In “The Sandcastle”, Masha, a grandmother, goes to a beach with hot temperatures, and has a flashback of her childhood, which makes her build a sandcastle with her grandchildren. In “A Mason Dixon Memory”, a black man, Dondre, shares his story about how his race caused him to miss a competition, which reminds another black person, Clifton, about his story of the same topic. The flashback in “The Sandcastle”, the flashback is when Masha thinks of her childhood at the beach while she is at the beach. In “A Mason Dixon Memory”, the flashback is when Clifton thinks of his childhood that involves similar racism compared to Dondre’s. A flashback is a literary technique that is about the past of a main character.
A flashback compares and contrasts the past with the present of the story, since it is usually thought of because the main character was reminded of it in some way. Compare and contrast is shown through how the main character is reminded of the flashback. If they are saying how their past experience was different from the present, it is a contrast, and if they are saying how they are similar, then it is a comparison. In “The Sandcastle”, it is a contrast. Masha was very excited before, and the world wasn’t as hot and didn’t have as much global warming compared to now. It is also similar because both had a sandcastle and a beach in it. In “A Mason Dixon Memory”, it is a comparison. In both stories, there is racism that has been suffered. It is also different because in the past. Dondre’s friends did not go to the competition, but Clifton’s friends did not go to the museum. A contrast and comparison in a flashback is an important part of it, since it is the use of it. A flashback is used to show the similarities and differences between the memory and the reality. A flashback usually has memories that connect to the present, which is the whole reason why it is even included in the story. With a comparison and a contrast, a flashback has a better effect on the reader because it can help him or her understand what the story is talking about, and why the author is mentioning the past memory. A flashback uses a comparison and contrast all the time to show relation to the present time. Compare and contrast is a part of the function of a flashback.
A flashback can also be used in a story to provide details about the main storyline that has been going on. Sometimes, a story can be about a topic that the average person or reader doesn’t know the entire background of, so they don’t understand the story exceptionally well. A flashback can then provide extra details about the topic, which helps the reader understand it. In “The Sandcastle”, the flashback tells the reader of how the beach has changed. It mentions global warming to the reader, which can help him or her understand the story better. In “A Mason Dixon Memory”, the flashback tells what the Mason Dixon line is, which is a demarcation line separating four states. Most readers probably don’t know many things that the story is talking about, so having a flashback in the story can help them understand. Flashbacks can tell the reader some background information about the story. If a reader knows nothing about the story and its backgrounds, then they do not properly understand the story because it is hard to know what the author is talking about. When the author provides detail through a flashback, it makes the story more interesting and also teaches the reader some information that could help them understand the story better. Flashbacks provide detail that can help readers understand the story better than they did without one.
Flashbacks can also have an impact on the real, everyday life by conveying a message through it. They can have a theme or a topic of what they are talking about, which can be the impact on the readers. The authors write the flashback to tell the reader to do something, which is the impact. The impact of “The Sandcastle” is to stop global warming. The story says that the sun scorched everything, and it was bad. The impact of “A Mason Dixon Memory” was to stop racism, since racism still exists today even after so many years. An impact of a flashback can benefit the real world. It can give the message to a reader to do something or not do something. Flashbacks have a theme that is the impact of it, and when it is read, it is conveyed. The impact of the flashbacks are to not do anything bad, and prevent bad things from happening. Flashbacks have an impact in real life on the reader.
Flashbacks are a literary technique in which the author uses a past memory to compare, contrast, provide details, and convey an impact. They are very useful when doing certain things, and interrupt the main storyline that happens in the future. It makes the story more interesting because the reader can actually understand what the author is talking about. The flashbacks help the reader identify differences between the present time and the past time, and also some similarities. It also can provide background information about something mentioned that is important and significant in the story. Flashbacks are something authors use to make stories better.
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