Why do people write memoirs? What power is there in telling our own stories?

Black Boy was a wonderful memoir written by Richard Wright. Through his writing we are able to get a true sense of his inner feelings and can, in some way, relate to his struggles. I think the main reason memoirs are written is so that the author can share their personal stuggles with the readers. It shows the authors true courage because they are revealing important maybe even difficult situations that occured in their past.
Memoirs are powerful pieces of work. Firstly, it is beneficial to the author; it gives them a way to "vent" and commemerate their past. They are able to go back and analyze their actions and rethink the things they did or what they should have done. Not only are memoirs valuable to the author, its useful for the audience who read the novel. Memoirs are very vivid and "real" because they are written by a really accurate source. The readers are able to relate to the actual situations and if they are struggling with the same thing, they can relate to the feelings of the author.