Everything is Illuminated

In Everything is Illuminated, Jonathon Safran has a strange obsession with collecting momentos related to events and people. This is made evident at the beginning of the film when he takes a necklace (from what I remember it was a pendant or gem) and stows it away in a plastic bag. Soon enough, we see a wall full of strange items. (The used condom on the wall was the most disturbing.) This wall of strange items had to have had some sort of signifiance to the film, so what was it? At this point, the function of his souvenires represents people forgetting about their pasts--whether painful or joyful. When asked why he collects things, he answers "I don't want to forget". Jonathon most definitely does not forget about the random times he has because he has tiny pieces to remind him. Perhaps this is hinting at something. Some people try to let go of their pasts when painful, because trying to forget them and running away from pain seems easier than confronting it. The truth is that the past is the past and no one can ever run away from what happened in it. Being true, Jonathon's collection of trinkets might actually be suggesting that we hold onto our pasts--yet not let them dictate our futures--because they are a part of what one will become.