Shreya Panathula Week 15 - Memory Loss: Overused or Underrated
Memory loss is one of the most common tropes across all of fiction. It can be found anywhere, from spy thrillers to slow-burn romances, and, while it may seem to be a result of laziness on the author’s part, not wanting to find a way to incorporate world-building, it can also be a powerful storytelling tool, one that demonstrates just how much our identities are often tied to our memories.
Take Bob the Titan from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, for example. Once the fearsome Titan Iapetus, Bob begins in The Demigod Files as an enemy of the Greek gods (The Demigod Files). Yet, when his memory is wiped, the former Titan is reborn, quite literally, with absolutely no memory of his violent past. Thus, he transforms to become a kind, loyal, and curious being, even becoming an influential and pivotal character throughout Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series.
Indeed, when Bob’s memories are completely erased, it creates a clean slate of sorts, a fictional tool that allows characters to reimagine and reinvent themselves. Bob’s “rebirth” does not eliminate or invalidate his existence; rather gives him the choice of who he wishes to be, without his past and his violent actions tainting his self-impression and image. In this choice, he can reject what he was trained or expected to be, a mortal enemy of the Greek gods.
And that simple fact is what makes the trope of memory loss more than just a tool made out of laziness in forcing characters to ask that one question: Who am I without my past? Yet, Bob’s story specifically makes readers ask an even tougher one: If you forget your crimes, are you still responsible for all the hurt you may have once caused?
Of course, in the grand scheme of literature, the trope is often overused. Some stories truly do rely on memory loss as a cheap twist or easy drama. But when it’s done well, like in Bob’s arc, it becomes more than a plot device. It becomes a symbol of redemption, transformation, and hope.
Works Cited
“The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Olympians).” Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/book/show/27396489-the-demigod-files. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Edge, Deckle. “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files Cover.” Amazon, 10 Feb. 2009, www.amazon.com/Demigod-Files-Percy-Jackson-Olympians/dp/142312166X. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Hey Shreya! I liked how you used the theme of memory loss in your blog and tied it to the trope being used multiple times yet with various backstories. Like you mentioned these tropes with the theme of memory loss differ in their own ways. I remember reading Percy Jackson back in fifth grade and honestly I had not noticed the use of memory in these series until now, and I liked how you related our theme with the Titan from the Percy Jackson series. Bob's rebirth did not create a whole new character rather, like you said, it gave him a chance to show his inner personality and character showing that he did not mean to be an enemy of the greek gods. I agree that in some stories memory loss creates the common twist that changes the plot completely to create basic drama, which in my opinion is quite overused, and Bob's memory loss instead shows his true self to the readers. Anyways, I truly enjoyed reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Shreya! I agree that the memory loss trope is often used in fantasy literature— and was pleasantly surprised to see the inclusion of Bob the Titan! I have loved Percy Jackson and the Olympians since elementary school, and spent several weeks over the last summer rereading the series, gaining a new appreciation for it and seeing it in a different light. Bob the Titan specifically was not quite touched on, and I found out that there is more information about him in The Demigod Files, which I really hope to read soon! I also found your analysis of his character to be so interesting, especially as he is a key character at the end of House of Hades, and his character development is integral to the main storyline of Heroes of Olympus as a whole.
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