Marcel is the narrator of the novel. Though he never refers to himself by name, the narrator of later books of In Search of Lost Time names himself Marcel. Marcel is a thinly-veiled stand-in for the author of Swann’s Way, Marcel Proust. However, Marcel differs in several ways from the author. He introduces himself to the audience through one of these differences. Marcel complains about his insomnia, a condition that has plagued him since his childhood. He stays up late each night, just as he did when he was young. As a boy, these late nights were motivated by the desire to experience his mother’s kiss each evening. On nights when she did not or could not kiss Marcel, he felt anxious and unable to sleep. His mother’s kiss is an important assurance of warmth and affection.

Marcel tells the reader that he is obsessed with his memories. After dipping a madeleine in a cup of tea, he is nearly overwhelmed by a flood of nostalgia. This blend of the physical sensation and the nostalgic sentiment transports him back to a time when he experienced the same taste. He digs deeper into these sensory reveries, plunging further and further into the past to understand the construction of his psyche by piecing together the experiences that contributed to his personality.