Amnesia

Okay, this has been puzzling me for a while..

Your memories define you, right? If it weren't for your memories, you might not have the same fears, the same goals, or the same directions in life.

So... if a character had amnesia, would they still have the same personality as before, or would their past life not affect anything? I always assumed it'd be the latter, but I've heard different opinions from different people...

Another minor point...

How long would it take for someone's memory to return? Are their situations where a character with amnesia would need triggers to remember things, or would triggers just help make the process faster? Are their situations where a character would never regain his or her memory?

Thanks for your time,

--Kay

Well, it's certainly debatable whether your memories define you or not: there's plenty of evidence to show that your genetics contribute quite heavily to that particular side of a person.
However, there's a difference between memories completely disappearing and memories simply being repressed. For example, if you asked an arachnophobic person why they are so afraid of spiders, more often than not they won't be able to give a good answer: it's only with therepy or counselling that they understand the root of the problem, lying in some childhood event or something else similar. Just because memories aren't present in the conscious mind doesn't mean they don't affect you.
Basically, even though your character's memories are deeply submerged in their unconscious, they aren't *gone*, and will keep affecting the character in the same way. Their personalities won't suddenly change overnight, though they might be rather confused about themselves, naturally.

Hahaha... be specific. What type of amnesia?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia

I tend to have fugue amnesia every once and a while over specific, tramatic events. That is, I can remember everything else, except for that one specific event, since I totally block it out. Except I don't really block it out... it comes out in my writing. I don't realize I have forgotten it until a trigger hits me, and then I don't "remember" it but instead am aware that something happened that I've since forgotten. It's weird...

But in that case, I do retain my personality and everything UNTIL the trigger hits me, and then I start to go crazy until I confront the tramatic experience. And then my personality comes back.

But, of course, conflict does change people and perhaps my personality has been affected? I don't know. I never see myself as changing, but in retrospect, perhaps I have.

It's different for everyone, I think. So what specifically happens for your character?

Well, the actual cause probably won't be revealed in the story, as it starts after he's woken up somewhere else, but I'm pretty sure he falls and hits his head. I know he wakes up with a head injury anyway.

Because of the circumstances that he's in.. I guess he could be suppressing things from himself, but I'm not sure if they're really the sorts of things that you'd suppress..

I think he was running away 'cause his home - a chateau in the French Revolution - was burned down. If that's not traumatic enough, I suppose there were a few killings around that time as well.

Thanks for the comments by the way. Hope I helped you understand it more, Snoink.

Does he forget his entire past?

Yep, I'm thinking he does.