Should John have been honest about his amnesia?

Use this forum to discuss the November 2021 Book of the month, "The Freedom Building" by Martin Kendall
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ajib_bacha
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Re: Should John have been honest about his amnesia?

Post by ajib_bacha »

The answer to this question is hidden in the question itself, for how was he supposed to know or tell about his amnesia if he had amnesia. I mean even if he knew, he could have easily forgotten that detail about himself.
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Post by raj_nandani_poet »

If he has amnesia, he most probably not aware about it. Even if someone informed him,it is a possibility the he forget it. So maybe it's not his fault that he forgot to tell about his amnesia.
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Post by Tori_J »

I understand why he would want to keep something of that gravity to himself. There are just so many reasons why he would want to keep it to himself. Despite that though, I have to agree that his world would have been much easier had he just let people know his condition.
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Post by Satwik Mohanty »

I don't think the story would have gone as it is if John had admitted to his amnesia. Admitting he forgot everything would have been the right thing to do, but that wouldn't have been much of an interesting plot.
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Post by Kalduke »

In my opinion, this situation is very delicate and personal, making it hard to tell someone and besides, if everyone one knew then the story would have been boring.
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Post by Rodel Barnachea »

raj_nandani_poet wrote: 14 Nov 2021, 04:50 If he has amnesia, he most probably not aware about it. Even if someone informed him,it is a possibility the he forget it. So maybe it's not his fault that he forgot to tell about his amnesia.
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. People who have amnesia only have forgotten memories and information acquired for a certain period of time. The same thing happened with John, who fails to recall anything that happened between the time when he had a vehicular accident and the time when he awoke in the hospital after he "fell" on the site where the old Zenith building used to stand.
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Post by Rodel Barnachea »

Kalduke wrote: 15 Nov 2021, 00:44 In my opinion, this situation is very delicate and personal, making it hard to tell someone and besides, if everyone one knew then the story would have been boring.
I have to agree with you that if John decided to be honest, a lot of the incidents that happened in the story wouldn't have happened. But I really think that if John wanted his life to be so much easier, he should have told the doctor the moment he woke up the fact that he cannot remember anything in the past 3 years.
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Post by Arunima Halder »

John should have told someone about his amnesia. Then again, how could he trust others? It is not easy to talk about mental problems with people who aren't likely to understand them. Communicating his problems might have solved many of it but would have deprived us readers of many interesting twists and turns.
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Post by Chiwelite O »

Honestly has always been the best policy, no doubt. However, he acted the way he did because it was part of the story development.
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Post by iva_ivanova »

Generally, people with amnesia should be honest about what they are going through with themselves and with others. It helps prevent a lot of the anxiety that comes with the condition. Still, I cannot blame John for hiding it. It's a normal reaction from patients.
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Post by Rizki Pradana »

I think it can make the situation much better. But probably John fears that people might take advantage of his amnesia. So he decide to not tell people about it.
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Post by Adelee Grobler »

I think he should have been honest but I think he was scared to lose what he’s worked his whole life for.
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Post by Buk Nerd »

I believe honesty would have served John better, and saved him a whole lot of hassle. He should have been honest about it from the start. But being that it's an important plot point in the book, his deception served its purpose and it made for a compelling story.
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Post by Neshboy Aburi »

First I think he would do such thing because the amnesia was worth his silence. It prayed on his subconscious need to be a better architect, even dreaming of being the Zenith building designer. Second I think he couldn't open up because his amnesia was a central part of the plot. From a moral angle, I think he was obligated to tell the truth, but I liked it better when he kept the condition secret.
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Post by Abdul Na-eem M »

Naa even if he had told them he would have still experience what someone with amnesia experiences but perhaps, they would have help him out with necessary support
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