This thesis is an exploration of memory, its modes of organization, and implications on the human experience. Focusing on the physiological, psychological, cognitive, and mnemonic nature of memory, I argue that memory is identity. It is the one human attribute that distinguishes us from animals. Drawing from my own memories, Lockean theory, the case study of Henry Molasion, and the work of Rachel Whiteread and Do Ho Suh, I examine memory’s connection to the human condition, and the possibilities of a global memory failure.