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Selective Amnesia In We Were Liars

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Recommended: Biopsychology of amnesia

Selective amnesia: a type of amnesia in which the victim loses part of his/her memory. Such is the fate of the main character of We Were Liars, Cadence, after she gets involved in a mysterious accident. This book is a fiction novel written by E. Lockhart about a seemingly perfect, rich family, and how they messed up. The book is full of unknown and foreshadowing. As the title suggests, the main characters tend to not summarize some events truthfully, With the given information, it’s difficult to believe everything that Cadence has told us. This leads us towards the verdict that Cadence is not the most trustworthy narrator.

Towards the end of the story, the reader becomes aware that Johnny, Mirren, and Gat have suffered an unfortunate fate. …show more content…

Selective amnesia is a type of amnesia that results in the victim losing part of his/her memory. In this case, after she was found by the little beach, She began having difficulty remembering what had occurred prior to the accident. Knowing this, it’s natural for the reader to begin doubting the words of the narrator. Especially when the said narrator seems to be doubting her own knowledge on the situation. With her always doubting her own thoughts and remembering next to nothing about her past, it makes sit all the more difficult to believe what she is saying. During her absence from Beechwood, it is shown that Cadence is curious and constantly asks her mother about the accident. However, every time her mom responds,She forgets whatever she said in a matter of …show more content…

As the title very much suggests, it’s quite blurry as to who you can trust. In the average novel, the narrator is to be 100% trusted. This story is an exception; trustworthiness adds quite an interesting twist to the plot. Taking into account all the crazy things that have happened to her physically and mentally, we can begin to get an idea of how much of what Cadence says is true. Her hallucinations of the Liars, the accident causing her to develop selective amnesia, and her unstable personality all allow us to conclude that Cadence Sinclair Eastman is an unreliable

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