Themes concerning purposeful memory loss, wanting to forget

[Glisterspeck]

Hi all! I've been working on a new story concept off and on for a while. The plot concerns an antagonist bound by a chain. The chain stores the antagonist's memory, leaving the antagonist without a past.

So, thematically, I'm playing with memory as a definition of self and looking at what self remains without memory.

I'm considering the idea that he has willingly done this to forget a violent past (he will have a violent past either way). This would be similar, I suppose, to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I'm not quite sold on this approach because I'm afraid it may be cliche or, at the very least, a trope. As I'd be using it as a trick ending, I don't want to rely on a trope that can be seen a mile away.

With this post, I hope to meet two needs:

Plot/lit review for similar sounding plots. I'd like for anyone who knows of any even vaguely similarly plotted or themed stories/films to respond with the title of the similar piece and maybe a few words that highlight the connection.

And I'd like to get feedback on the following questions:

1. Will a violent man remain violent after losing all memory?

2. Has exploring that question cliche? A trope? To what extreme is it a cliche?

3. His memories are not replaced, just gone, leaving him without a true sense of self. Would you want to remember your past, even if you were forewarned that you wouldn't like the self that emerges?

4. How done to death is this question?

Off the top of my head, I can think of some similar stuff: Eternal Sunshine..., The Bourne Identity series, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, but I'd appreciate many many more examples.

Thanks!

 

[Boneman]

ooh...ooh... there was that film about a private detective hired to find a guy who'd broken a contract, and the client he's working for is very creepy. Turns out the PI is looking for himself - managed to bury the memory so deep, it didn't exist, and Dah Dah, the client turns out to be the devil. The film was a lot gorier than the book, the film was called Angel Eyes (I think, hold on, let me google...) Nope it was Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke, based on William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel...

'Total Recall' with Arnie?

 

[The Judge]

Can't help you with the issues of previous books etc, I'm afraid. As to the question of violence, I think it entirely possible he might become more violent if his past has effectively been erased. Dementia sufferers are obviously different from your protagonist, since their brains are damaged in other areas not simply those to do with memory retention, but the frustration and fear would be similar I have no doubt, and most people react badly to both.

Do you know why your character is violent? If for instance he was bred/genetically developed as a killer, and/or fed some kind of drug, then presumably his violent tendencies would continue because the chemical or whatever processes in his brain would be the same. On the other hand if the violence arises from his upbringing, eg he was abused as a child and violence is his way of coping, if his childhood memories are gone, then it might be that he is more easily able to control violent emotions. Though I think I'm right in saying that such a background actively changes the way the brain works, much the same as a drug would do. It might be worth your while researching that specific question.

I think most people would want to know their past even if they were forewarned of the dangers. They might believe that the limbo of not knowing anything is too horrible to be allowed to continue no matter what; they might think that reality couldn't be worse than the horrors their imagination produces; they might simply not believe the warnings.

But when it comes down to it, you are writing fiction. Provided your character's response is not wholly out of the question, and you are writing well enough, I think most readers would suspend disbelief. If need be, invent some pseudo-scientific reason for whatever reaction you want to achieve.

J

 

[Glisterspeck]

Thanks!

J, the character is, unbeknownst to him, a djinn, but he believes himself to be a man. Djinn are not necessarily violent, but this one was an enforcer of sorts. He still is an enforcer in the current story, but he thinks he's a man working for demons, when in fact he is a "demon" answering to men.

Technically, he's not a demon but a djinn. I chose to use a djinn because they are capable of free will, which is important. And they're not quite as played out as demons.

It also plays on the djinn trapped in a bottle trope except that the bottle, in this case, is the chain that steals his memory.

 

[HareBrain]

My own view is that personality is largely determined by the subconcious, and since the memories are presumably still located within the subconscious (only being screened from his conscious mind) I don't think the personality would change much due to the amnesia, except maybe (as Judge suggests) due to conflict relating to sense of self.

The only other example I can give of self-induced amnesia is, er, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII

 

[dustinzgirl]

1. Will a violent man remain violent after losing all memory?

Who knows? Nature vs. Nurture. Could be both, could be one or the other, could be neither. Entire schools of study are devoted to that one little question.

2. Has exploring that question cliche? A trope? To what extreme is it a cliche?

No, but eternal sunshine was a terrible movie. Just awful.

3. His memories are not replaced, just gone, leaving him without a true sense of self. Would you want to remember your past, even if you were forewarned that you wouldn't like the self that emerges?

Would you rather spend your life tortured by not know who you were? If that is the route you are going, then his violence was likely situational.....um...Skilgannon comes to mind if I remember correctly. Lots of good men do terrible violent things believing that they are right to do so. Hiroshima, for example.

4. How done to death is this question?

Not very because its never been answered. Ever.

 

[The Judge]

Well, if he's a djinn, you can pretty much do what you want with him, I'd have thought. You only need to refer to reality, and what we would do, if you want him (or a concerned friend?) to worry that he isn't 'normal' since his reactions aren't usual for humans - and if, as DG suggests, the research is equivocal, you can go for whatever makes for the better story.

Good luck with it anyway.

J

 

[Xelah]

1. Will a violent man remain violent after losing all memory?

I'd like to cite that episode of Doctor Who where the master gets all his memories back from that watch. He was a nice guy up until that.

3. His memories are not replaced, just gone, leaving him without a true sense of self. Would you want to remember your past, even if you were forewarned that you wouldn't like the self that emerges?

Depends. Some people like their "evil self"

 

[Purdy Bear]

I think a violent man may get more violent without his memories, but he just wouldnt know why he was being violent. Tempers I dont think would change with loss of memory.

On the second question, I would say the person becomes very black and white, rather then having more of an overall view of things.

I suggest you look into studies of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as this can cause Amnesia in some; also some research into over coming Amnesia and flashbacks would also help.

You dont realise that you have even lost your memory of things, its just like fog you cant see through.