Trusting Teddy’s side of the story seems like a most plausible thing.However, in both scenarios, there are few assumptions that should be considered as ‘fact’.1) Lenny’s wife, Catherine, is dead2) Lenny and his wife was attacked by two men; Leonard killed one attacker, and the other escaped. He’s been looking for the second attacker ever since.But honestly, why should we trust these assumptions? What if Lenny has a severe mental illness? If that’s the case, then we really shouldn’t trust anything Lenny tells us. Both the attack and Sammy Jankis story happened before his amnesia. Whether Sammy Jankis’s story is true or not has been a debate ever since the movie came out, but no one argued against Lenny’s story of attack. But how do we know if attack ever happened? And how do we know if his wife ever died? We hear everything from Lenny’s perspective, and the only other person who seems to know about the attack is Teddy. Seeing that Teddy himself is a mysterious character, we really can’t assume anything as ‘facts’.I know that these things sound ridiculous. I go with most people that Teddy’s story is most reliable, and that Lenny has been repeating the murder throughout the years. I just wanted to point out that debating as to whether which interpretation is ‘the truth’ is quite meaningless. Truth is relative and prone to change depending on perspectives. In real life, what we see as truth might not be viewed same from other perspectives. We conceive something as truth, only if we believe in them. But what if we only believe in something because society and institution manipulated us to do so? In that sense, we can interpret Leonard as one of us who has been taken advantage of by outside force, such as Teddy, Natalie and even minor characters like motel manager. None of the interpretation in the movie is a lie. Whoever’s story we believe in becomes the truth.
There are several interpretations as to what is THE ultimate truth in this movie. It can be categorized as two main interpretations, whether Teddy’s story is true or not.1. Teddy’s version of the story: The story of Sammy Jankis is actually Leonard’s. Leonard’s wife survived the attack and it was Leonard who killed his wife through insulin overdose. Leonard had killed the actual attacker a long time ago.a) Most literal interpretation is to take in everything Teddy said as true. Teddy was indeed an undercover cop who helped Lenny’s revenge. Afterwards he’s been taking advantage of Lenny and used him to kill wrong man.- We know that at least one person died (Jimmy Gratz) because of Teddy. How many more people were involved in his murder is unknown. b) Amnesia is ‘psychological’ rather than ‘physical’: Leonard’s amnesia isn’t a result from physical (the attack on his head), but from a psychological, mental illness. Sammy Jankis=Leonard Shelby. Leonard tries to escape from the truth (that he is the one who killed his wife) by manipulating his own memories. It could be the reason why he keeps saying that Sammy’s (who is actually Lenny himself) condition is psychological rather than physical. He subconsciously knows that his condition is a brainchild of his own imagination. - This theory isn’t very likely, because by trusting Teddy’s story we must assume that his wife DID die because of Lenny. (Also, Lenny tries to escape from the painful memory: the fact that he killed his wife). In order for this to be true, Lenny must have had actual amnesia. This means Leonard is unable to manipulate his own memories, since he will forget that he killed his wife. c) Lenny has gotten his revenge while his wife was alive. (which means part of Teddy’s story should be lie) The tattoo scene that’s briefly shown confirms this theory. In order to find a motive in his life, he keeps repeating the murder.- The tattoo scene can also be interpreted as some kind of foreshadowing of what happens to Lenny after the murder of Teddy. Chronologically, Teddy’s death is the last scene of the movie. Maybe Lenny subconsciously knows that by killing Teddy, who’s been manipulating him, he finally gets his revenge. We can assume that the death of Teddy finally ends the cycle of murder. (Therefore he symbolically engraves “I’ve done it” on his chest.)2. Teddy’s version of the story is a lie: The story of Sammy Jankis is true. He suffered a similar symptom as Leonard after the car accident. He accidently killed his wife. Leonard hasn’t gotten his revenge yet. Everything in this movie happens in Leonard’s perspectives; therefore we don’t know who Teddy actually is. a) We can also assume that (even though very unlikely) Teddy is the actual John G. b) Teddy is not an undercover cop; he somehow knows Lenny
This scene puzzled me so much, for two obvious reasons: 1) What is his wife doing there? Didn’t she die like long time ago? 2) When did he ever get that tattoo?Obviously, it is hard to believe that this is a flashback from the past. Then what is this scene trying to tell us? Well, this is right after he writes down the license plate number of Teddy’s car, which ultimately leads to Teddy’s death at the end (chronologically). I think the scene is really a foreshadowing of what happens after he kills Teddy. I think Leonard subconsciously knows that he will get his final revenge after by Teddy, who has been taking advantage of him. If this is correct, then this ends the cycle of murder and therefore he can finally engrave tattoo on his chest.
Throughout the movie, Leonard narrates a story of Sammy Jankis to an unknown phonecaller. Sammy Jankis is a guy who developed anterograde amnesia after a minor car accident. Sammy couldn't learn any new skills since he forgot everything he learned after the accident. Learning through repetition did not work for him, and since it is a 'muscle memory' that uses different part of the brain from the short-term memory, Sammy's condition was determined to be psychological rather than physical. Leonard explains that he and Sammy are essentially different because he can learn through conditioning.
Leonard believes that he and Sammy are different since he can learn through conditioning. This seems to be true, because Leonard somehow knows that he must learn something by looking at his tattoo, or multiple notes in his pockets. If he were like Sammy, then he shouldn't know why he has tattoo on his body, since he got his tattoo after the accident.
"Conditioning didn't work for Sammy, so he became helpless. But it works for me. I live the way Sammy couldn't. Habit and Conditioning. Acting on instinct."
But is Leonard really learning things through conditioning? There are few scenes when Leonard looks at a tattoo on his hand that says “Remember Sammy Jankis”, and he tries to remove it as if he does not know of its existence. This tells me that every time Leonard starts his new memory, he must learn every single clue again. This is not impossible, but seems highly unlikely to me. I think he somehow subconsciously knows that he has to follow clues by looking at his tattoo or notes. At the end of the movie the viewers learn from Teddy that Sammy Jankis story is actually Leonard’s own. There is a debate as to whether Teddy is reliable person, but I believe that at least that part of the story should be trusted.There is a scene where Sammy is staring at people in the hospital, and as a person passes by, it quickly changes to Leonard. 
This scene confirmed that Leonard must be Sammy, (or part of Sammy story must be his) and that Leonard must have entered the mental institution because of his condition.
One of the flashbacks shows Sammy’s wife asking Leonard his honest opinion about Sammy’s condition. Leonard first tries to send her back, but later confesses that he thinks Sammy is physically capable of making new memories. I thought this statement was very interesting, because we already know that Leonard originally believed his problem to be psychologial. If we assume that Sammy=Leonard, then Leonard must be (at least subconsciously) knowing that he is capable of making new memories.
However, if we were to believe that Leonard story=Sammy story, then how could he able to distort his own memory that Leonard and Sammy are two different people? We have to assume that Leonard disguises his memory so that he can escape from the fact that he killed his own wife. However, in order to do that he must remember that he killed his wife. If he did have amnesia, then this should be impossible since Leonard should not remember anything that had happened to him after the accident.
This suggests two things:1) Teddy lied2) Leonard is actually aware of everything that happened to him since the accident. He just tries to avoid the truth by distorting his own memories.I would say that second theory is more plausible and makes most sense. In fact, it is possible that Leonard doesn’t actually have amnesia. His amnesia comes from his own belief; the accident really does not have anything to do with the amnesia. There is a major drawback to this theory though. If Leonard did not actually have amnesia, but imagined one in order to avoid the truth that he killed his own wife, then how could he have killed his wife? His wife died because Leonard forgot that he had already injected insulin. But if he did not have amnesia, then he should have remembered that he indeed did inject insulin, and therefore his wife should never have died.Because of this, I came to conclusion that Leonard did have amnesia, but it healed at some point while he was in a mental institution. He was horrified that he killed his own wife, and that is why he tried to seal his memory by believing that he still has amnesia. This belief ultimately becomes truth, at least in his own world. Leonard says at the end:
“I'm not a killer...but right now I need to be. Maybe I'm not finished yet. Maybe I need to be sure that you won't ever use me again. You're a John G.? Fine, then you can be my John G. Do I lie to myself to be happy? In your case, Teddy..yes, I will.
I have to believe in the world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.” Leonard himself says that he has to believe in the world outside his own mind. But this really means that he needs to believe in the world where there is still something to be motivated for. As a solution, he refuses to accept Teddy's story and creates his own world, where everything exists according to his belief. We learn that Teddy dies at the end because Leonard deliberately plants an idea (the belief that becomes the truth) that John G is Teddy. However, just because he is killing the wrong guy, it does not mean that his acts have been meaningless (at least to Leonard himself). He needs to believe that the world is still here. By repeating the cycle of murder, he finds a motivation in his life and knows that he still has a reason to live. Also, the actual truth does not really matter because Leonard’s belief is truth, at least in his simulacrum.
In one scene, Leonard burns several of his wife’s belongings, including teddy bear, brush, underwear, and a book. We see short flashback for each object. We see his wife taking off her bra. We see his wife brushing her hair. Then we see her reading a book, which is followed by a dialogue:
Leonard: How can you read that again?
Leonard's wife: It's good
Leonard: You've read it hundred times.
Leonard's wife: I enjoy it.
Leonard: Yeah, but the pleasure of a book is in wanting to know what happens next..
Leonard's wife: Don't be a prick. I'm not reading it to annoy you, I enjoy it. Just let me read, please.
I thought this dialogue was very interesting, because it parallels with Leonard’s own situation in the present. Leonard says “the pleasure of a book is in wanting to know what happens next-“, and the wife responds “I’m not reading it to annoy you, I enjoy it. Just let me read, please”. I felt like this conversation really relates to the current situation Leonard’s in. In a way, Leonard wants to know whether he will find the murderer and finally get his revenge. At the same time, he is afraid of losing the only motivation in his life. To compromise, he repeats the cycle of murder over and over again.
We get to see the text from the book for maybe 2 seconds, but it is enough to figure out the content.
Chapter OneTwo years have gone by since I finished writing the longstory of how I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germani-cus, the cripple, the stammerer, the fool of the family, whomnone of his ambitious and bloody-minded relatives consid-ered worth the trouble of executing, poisoning, forcing tosuicide, banishing to a desert island or starving to death which was how they one by one got rid of each other howI survived them all, even my insane nephew Gaius Caligula,and was one day unexpectedly acclaimed Emperor 41 A.D.by the corporals and sergeants of the Palace Guard.In fact, it is text from an actual book called Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina, which is written by Robert Graves. It is a sequel to “I, Claudius”, a critical acclaimed historical novel which was also made into an award winning television series. The book is narrated by Roman Emperor Claudius, who was born crippled but also with an intelligence and brilliant insightfulness. However, his intelligence was always understated because of his disability. I never read the book, but I have watched the entire episodes of “I, Claudius”. I realized that the story of Emperor Claudius creates a parallel with the story of Leonard. According to “I, Claudius”, Claudius was always deemed weak and useless because of his disability. However, because his family assumed that he is a harmless idiot, he survives the murderous dynasty while many of his relatives are killed. He eventually becomes the emperor. In Memento, Almost all characters in the movie deem Leonard worthless and try to take advantage of his condition. However, despite his limitations, he does not just let them manipulate him. For example, Natalie fails to achieve her goal because Leonard does not kill Dodd. For Teddy, his lies ultimately come back to him and kill him. I think this is possible because Leonard creates his own world (simulacrum) in which he subconsciously controls everything. Everything he believes becomes the truth, and therefore the end result will always favor him.
Leonard: I have to believe in the world outside my own mind… I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there.
Memento contains several postmodern ideas. Mainly, it questions the definition of belief and truth. What is the definition of truth anyways? How about belief? The postmodern definition of ‘truth’ is very vague. It is relative and is very different from ‘fact’. It is very closely related to belief. When an idea or theory is strongly believed to be truth, then at some point it really becomes truth. In memento, the main character Leonard Shelby locks himself in his own simulacrum where truth only exists according to his belief. It is impossible to know the ‘actual truth’, because the movie is only shown in Leonard’s view. The main focus of this blog is to figure out ‘THE truth’ of Memento. In order to do that, I focused on three scenes that give clue about what to (or not to) believe as ‘THE truth’.
