Proust excerpt analysis

“The Cookie”, and excerpt from Marcel Proust’s novel Remembrance of Things Past, is an eloquent tale about the wonders of childhood. The story begins with Proust explaining that his life and his existence no longer have any meaning for him. He accepts a cup of tea and a cookie from his mother, which he normally refuses. When he first takes a sip of tea in which he had dunked the cookie, Proust experiences such intense pleasure. “And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory - this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me” (Proust).

This feeling is that of nostalgia and wonderful memories of the past. The cookie represents the simplicity and ease of childhood as compared to the emotionless present. Proust explains, at the end of his story, that just this one sip of tea allowed him to see the world as if he was a child again, with wonder, curiosity and amazement. “The whole of Combray and its surroundings, taking shape and solidity, sprang into being, town and gardens alike, from my cup of tea” (Proust).