Paul Theroux (post 3) quotes V. S. Naipaul (post 7): Good/Bad Memory, Writing as Therapy, Becoming Narrators, Handwriting, Feeling Like Fraud. 

Both Excellent and Poor Memory

“[Naipaul] told me later that he knew each of his books by heart…” (1, p. 18).

“…he complained that he was dull, he was slow, and that he often gave offense without meaning to” (1, p. 146).

Most people are relatively consistent in how good their memory is. In contrast, people with multiple personality may have both very excellent and very poor memory. This makes sense, since a person’s ability to keep track of their multiple personalities is, in itself, a demonstration of excellent memory, while the memory gaps that one personality may have of what other personalities have done is a kind of poor memory.

Naipaul’s knowing his books by heart is a demonstration of excellent memory. In contrast, he sometimes thinks that he must be slow and dull, and that he must be doing things without meaning to. His giving offense without meaning to may refer to one personality’s having been offensive, leaving another personality holding the bag, and sometimes, perhaps, not even remembering having given the offense that people are now talking about.

Writing as Therapy

Naipaul says, “If you didn’t write, you’d go out of your mind” (1, p. 33). “You’re a writer. That’s why you don’t go insane” (1, p. 89).

Therapy for multiple personality tries to facilitate cooperation among the personalities. One thing that helps personalities cooperate is giving them a chance to do what they like to do and express themselves. This may be accomplished in the creative process of being a writer.

 Quoting, Perhaps Becoming, his Narrator Personalities

“ ‘My narrator has something to say about this,’ Vidia would say in the middle of a conversation, and it was often as simple as a reference to the fluctuating price of land. He was close to all his characters — he quoted them, and he often quoted the narrator…” (1, p. 56). “Vidia talked in his pompous visiting-elder-statesman manner, which was also the tone of his narrator…” (1, p. 64).

Handwriting

“Vidia claimed that handwriting spoke volumes…He had taught me to read the moods in his handwriting, for which he always used a fountain pen and black ink. Large and loopy meant he was idle and calm, regular squiggles indicated concentration, small meant anxious, tiny meant fearful and overworked, and at its most minuscule he was at his wits’ end” (1, p. 144).

In most people, different handwritings represent the different moods or purposes of a single personality. In some people with multiple personality, different personalities have different handwritings. Since the difference between “large and loopy” and “minuscule” seems rather extreme, Naipaul may be demonstrating the handwritings of his different personalities.

Host Personality: Last to Know and Feels Like Fraud

“ ‘Don’t worry about your book,’ he said…‘You won’t know what it is about until you finish it’ ” (1, p. 182).

“The very sight of his books irritated him. He hated talking about them. He felt like a fraud” (1, p. 189).

1. Paul Theroux. Sir Vidia’s Shadow: A Friendship Across Five Continents. New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.