John's Amnesia - Genuine or Fake

María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda · 12 Nov 2021, 10:42

B Creech wrote: ↑02 Nov 2021, 17:10 I am still on the fence about whether the amnesia was real or fake. I think it would be difficult to pretend you didn't have amnesia if you really did. I am leaning more toward his amnesia being fake.

It must be really hard. But as someone mentioned, amnesia can be a response of your brain to "cope" with events that you normally can't cope with. It's literally a way of unplugging. So it might not have been a response to the accident.

Elena Nechita · Post by **Elena Nechita** » 12 Nov 2021, 13:23

I don't think his amnesia was fake, but I'm not so sure it was caused by an accident. His failure as a father, husband and architect put him in such a mental state that resulted in amnesia.

Melissa VanCleave Plant · Post by **Melissa VanCleave Plant** » 12 Nov 2021, 15:45

I believe his amnesia was genuine and likely psychosomatic. In other words, not a mental illness per se, but his body's response to stress. His inability to reconcile his past and current selves led to overwhelming inconsistencies in his life.

Shivansh_007 · Post by **Shivansh_007** » 12 Nov 2021, 22:32

I think his amnesia was genuine, but he can not use it as an excuse for his past. Everything that he did before is all his fault cause he didn't have amnesia at that time. He can use it for future consequences though.

Gabriella H · Post by **Gabriella H** » 13 Nov 2021, 05:51

I believe John's amnesia was genuine but not as a result of his accident. He couldn't have faked amnesia so well. Yes, it could've been due to mental illness.

Joe Candle · Post by **Joe Candle** » 13 Nov 2021, 12:32

I think that John's amnesia is real and the fact that he didn't tell anyone about it just proves it.

Elena Nechita · Post by **Elena Nechita** » 13 Nov 2021, 16:04

I believe his amnesia was genuine, but I don't think it was caused by the accident. I think he wanted to forget his failures so much that his brain dissociated.

J Edwards · Post by **J Edwards** » 13 Nov 2021, 17:31

I don't think he could pull it off the way he did if it was fake. I also think he also had this condition all along but the accident only accelerated it's manifestation.

Kammeuchechukwu Mark Okereke · 13 Nov 2021, 18:03

When you look at John's story in general: the overarching theme of pretending a problem didn't exist instead of tackling it head on, his insecurity about his failing career and even the emergence of his mental illness, I can see where the tendency to believe the whole ordeal was fake, drives a great narrative. But seeing where that fact, the amnesia, lead and how the trajectory was atypical of John's personality led me to believe that even if the amnesia was not sustained during the accident, he still had amnesia. I totally get him trying to pretend like three years of his like didn't exist just to push it away like he usually did, but then why would he have to lie about it, if it were actually true?

Mody C · Post by **Mody C** » 13 Nov 2021, 22:36

Barbie_sidhu wrote: ↑03 Nov 2021, 00:06 I believe the amnesia was true. It paved the way to this whole fantastic story. It might not have been from the accidents and does not justify his past conduct, but it was genuine.

I agree with you. His amnesia was genuine, but not because of accident, perhaps because of his mental illness.

William Kariuki · Post by **William Kariuki** » 14 Nov 2021, 00:44

John's amnesia was real but I would say that it was not from the accident that he was involved in but because he was mentally disturbed. The amnesia was genuine and not meant for pretence of hiding his failure in the past.

Post by **Tori_J** » 14 Nov 2021, 20:07

I completely believe that John Gowan's amnesia is real. The plot seems to support that conclusion. I don't really have much reason to think otherwise. He might have other issues but he is not faking amnesia to deal with it.

Rodel Barnachea · Post by **Rodel Barnachea** » 16 Nov 2021, 07:20

Asfiya Z wrote: ↑03 Nov 2021, 02:36 I believe that the amnesia he got wasn't from the accident, however, he was not faking it. It could have been a result of the mental illness he was facing.

Before I finished reading the book, I am inclined to say that the amnesia is due to mental illness and not from the accident. However, I do think that the nature and source of the amnesia is NOT from mental illness nor the accident. It's still quite mysterious to me even though I have read the entire book.

Adelee Grobler · Post by **Adelee Grobler** » 16 Nov 2021, 12:28

Out of personal experience, I can say that if he had a serious mental disorder, he would believe his lies. Therefore even if it was fake, it might not be fake for him.

katerina_12 · Post by **katerina_12** » 16 Nov 2021, 12:33

I think John's amnesia was fake. His brain was not physiologically damaged. I think amnesia was invented by his brain as a defense mechanism. He avoided the failures he experienced in both family and professional life. Eventually, he himself believed in the existence of his amnesia.