As we come to the conclusion of The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, we see the similarities between Hall’s work and that of Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 with the unresolved ending. At least that is the way that it was for me. Throughout the text there is the switch between the first Eric Sanderson and the second Eric Sanderson, much like in Memento, except that they are much clearer in their difference and clearly two different personas. The difference in narration, when dealing with the first Eric Sanderson, brings for a double clarity; as we, the reader, discover the first Eric’s past, so does the second Eric. The mind and how far it is willing to go to protect itself from harm is what plagues this text, as well as the second Eric and what haunted the first Eric. Due to the accident that occurred to his girlfriend that resulted in her untimely death, Eric Sanderson’s mind begins to create alternate occurrences to occupy his mind with so that he may not be haunted with the absence of his girlfriend. “There’s mp way to preserve a person when they’ve gone and that’s because whatever you write down it’s not the truth, it’s just a story. Stories are all we’re ever left with in our head or on paper” (413). The capacity, the inner working s of the minds are so construct and so precise that it protects itself in times of crisis, like it did for the second Eric, and tried to do so till his death. The inner working of the mind is greatly played in this work and as such creates the bigger mystery.
-Juana Acha