What are the conflicts in the story "The Rememberer" by Aimee Bender?

Aimee Bender explains that the idea for her story “The
Rememberer” came from a dream. After having ended a relationship, her thoughts were
constantly on the loss of a lover. Her story pushes the realm of realism by relaying
what seems impossible in a straightforward way. 

The
setting of the story is the home of the protagonist, Annie, who also serves as the
narrator of the story.  The time is the present.  The basis for the story comes from the
idea of evolution but with a twist.  Instead of showing how man has evolved from a lower
species, Annie’s lover suffers from an accelerated form of reverse
evolution.

Conflicts

Annie
faces an unusual problem.  She is facing the loss of her lover. Her
conflict stems from her inner turmoil in the forfeiture of
her mate. Strangely, rather than fight the process, Annie begins to cover for Ben, her
mate, by saying that he has a peculiar illness. 

What does
she do?  First, she checks the scientific basis of the problem.  There she receives no
help; in addition, she receives wrong information.  The process should take about a
year.  It has been a month. Ben is sitting in a bowl functioning as a sea turtle.  As
she tries to communicate with him, he stares at her, and she cries into his
bowl.

What are her emotions? Her responsibility has become
caregiver for the changes that Ben has gone through. She feels intense loss for the
person she loved, and this consumes her every thought. Her role is now to keep alive the
memories for Ben who has lost the ability to think because he has evolved to a lower
specimen.

In addition, the story’s plot circulates around
man versus nature.  As Ben de-evolves, each step
illustrates what man has gained as he has become a human being.  He sheds about a
million years per day.  

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It was evident that Ben had become sad about the
world.  On his last human day, he said, “Annie don’t you see? We’re all getting too
smart.  Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger and the world dries up and dies
when there’s too much thought and not enough
heart.”

Each day as Annie
returns from work, she wonders what changes she will see in
Ben.

The steps of the de-evolution began with Ben, who
loved to talk and discuss, saying that he hated talking. Then, he decided to start
sleeping outside.  One day when Annie returns from work, she discovered that Ben was now
an ape.  They sat outside and played with grass.  He spent time as a turtle. His last
stage is as a salamander.

Continuing to talk to him at
every stage, Annie finally realizes that Ben is no longer there.  Her conflict endures
when she realizes that she must return him to the ocean before he becomes no more than
an amoeba.  She releases him and watches as the salamander swims out. Some place in her
psyche, Annie thinks that someday Ben will return to her having
revolved.

Annie’s function has become not only Ben’s
caregiver but his memory.  Ben will never be lost because Annie remembers everything
about him and their relationship.  She remembers his smell, the feel of his arms, and
the way that he talked.  She is his rememberer. 

The
conflict within Annie is unresolved because she has no closure.  Despite Annie releasing
Ben into the ocean as a salamander, she still hopes that someday he will wash back up on
the shore as his old self. She keeps her phone listed; she reads the newspaper searching
for news; and finally, she keeps all of the memories locked inside her head and
heart.