<p>I like this interpretation from <a href="https://hanagasaitayo.wordpress.com/2021/12/31/analysis-serial-experiments-lain" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hana Ga Saita Yo</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Search of Lost Time the madeleines provoke a flashback in the story, in the case of SEL, instead, is a fastforward scene, however the meaning remains the same: to remember.
Lain every now and then goes to visit Arisu to renew her love for humanity, and consequently find the strength to continue to endure the sacrifice she is making: living in solitude. Arisu is Lain’s madeleine.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-24T04:19:45.843Z
2024-06-24T04:19:45.843Z
Direnta
<p>Towards the end of the last episode of Serial Experiments Lain, we see Lain have a brief conversation with her father. At the end of it, her father says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Lain, I'll make us some nice tea next time. Hey, with some madeleines! Definitely. They're great!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This seems to be a reference to Marcel Proust's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time#Memory" rel="nofollow">"episode of the madeleine"</a> in <em>In Search of Lost Time</em>. Assuming this is the case, is there any significance to this reference in relation to plot <em>beyond</em> the fact that (according to Wikipedia anyway - I haven't read Proust yet) in Proust, the madeleine is connected to a discussion of memory?</p>

<p>Given that this is followed (or follows, possibly) some comments on memory in the anime, it would make sense for this to be a "standalone" reference, but I'm wondering if there's any significance to this other than it <em>just</em> being a reference to a literary discussion of memory. (For instance, is there anything <em>specific</em> about Proust's discussion of memory that's also relevant in the context of SEL?)</p>

<symbolism><serial-experiments-lain>
Is there any significance to the comment on madeleines?
# Is there any significance to the comment on madeleines?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-04-22
Towards the end of the last episode of Serial Experiments Lain, we see Lain have a brief conversation with her father. At the end of it, her father says:

> Lain, I'll make us some nice tea next time. Hey, with some madeleines! Definitely. They're great!

This seems to be a reference to Marcel Proust's ["episode of the madeleine"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time#Memory) in *In Search of Lost Time*. Assuming this is the case, is there any significance to this reference in relation to plot *beyond* the fact that (according to Wikipedia anyway - I haven't read Proust yet) in Proust, the madeleine is connected to a discussion of memory?

Given that this is followed (or follows, possibly) some comments on memory in the anime, it would make sense for this to be a "standalone" reference, but I'm wondering if there's any significance to this other than it *just* being a reference to a literary discussion of memory. (For instance, is there anything *specific* about Proust's discussion of memory that's also relevant in the context of SEL?)
**Tags:** symbolism serial-experiments-lain
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2024-06-24. Score: -1
I like this interpretation from [Hana Ga Saita Yo](https://hanagasaitayo.wordpress.com/2021/12/31/analysis-serial-experiments-lain):

> In Search of Lost Time the madeleines provoke a flashback in the story, in the case of SEL, instead, is a fastforward scene, however the meaning remains the same: to remember.
> Lain every now and then goes to visit Arisu to renew her love for humanity, and consequently find the strength to continue to endure the sacrifice she is making: living in solitude. Arisu is Lain’s madeleine.
---
