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Why did John not feel free until the terrorist attack happened? He had a loving family, a successful company, and wealth. He managed to achieve something everybody wants. But why did he NOT feel free? Could it be because of the abundance of everything? Does he feel obliged to achieve those things only because he is privileged?

There is ambiguity in being “free”. Maybe Join felt like he couldn’t express his feelings because of fear of ridicule. The attack and subsequent amnesia gave him the “freedom” to feel how he really did without concern for how others felt.

I think that the notion of freedom is really abstract and certain people don't feel free in certain situations in which anyone else would have felt free.

It's generic asking about his feeling of freedom but if we break it down case by case, the overarching similarity would suggest that you were referring to before his amnesia and I would reply by saying, "it all came down to the pressure he felt to produce results". He might have seemed like he had it all but at the end of the day, looking at how his life was shaped out, I feel like he was truly alone with himself. Which is why he made a lot of questionable decisions when he began to forget. He just truly forgot about his pressure, to produce results.

Trauma such as the one John Gowan experienced would change anyone in ways they cannot imagine. Losing your memory can make you a different person. So, while he mightn't have felt free with his memories, having amnesia is certainly enough to change his perspective on things.

I think the freedom that John know is different from the way everyone thinking about freedom. Furthermore John trauma has caused him to think differently from the most of people

I think the pressure he was under curbed his sense of freedom. Also, amnesia changes the perspective since it removes circumstances and experiences from our awareness. That inevitably morphes his sense of freedom as well.

I think if you have a mental illness, you will be unhappy in any situation. If you have depression, you will be depressed about having everything and not feeling worth it. It’s a never-ending cycle.

From what I understand, the blast broke the monotonous life. Every single person at that moment was NOT doing what they were used to doing in their daily lives. The trauma, human emotions, and pain were all so raw. That stirred John somehow. Like the stagnant water was stirred. He felt free of monotony.

here is ambiguity in being “free”. Maybe Join felt like he couldn’t express his feelings because of fear of ridicule. The attack and subsequent amnesia gave him the “freedom” to feel how he really did without concern for how others felt.

Amy Luman wrote: ↑13 Nov 2021, 09:42 There is ambiguity in being “free”. Maybe Join felt like he couldn’t express his feelings because of fear of ridicule. The attack and subsequent amnesia gave him the “freedom” to feel how he really did without concern for how others felt.

I 100% agree with this. I think he had all of the physical freedoms and the appearance of freedom, but he was unable to fully express himself due to the constraints of his "perfect and free" life.

John's mental illness might be the reason behind his perceiving things differently than ordinary people. So what one thinks as freedom may not be the same for him.

I think he was looking for freedom from being under pressure of making his business succeed. His amnesia gives him a certain feeling of freedom because he doesn't have to honestly answer something that he is unable to explain.

Kibabcock wrote: ↑19 Nov 2021, 22:01 I think he was looking for freedom from being under pressure of making his business succeed. His amnesia gives him a certain feeling of freedom because he doesn't have to honestly answer something that he is unable to explain.

Oh yeah, his amnesia is basically the main distraction that John attends to instead of confronting his feelings that he is not free. Apart from being under pressure to make succeed in his business, I think other factors is of him being a husband and a father.

I think he felt a certain obligation to maintain a level of standard due to his success, and maybe he was too concerned about what people thought of him and felt trapped mentally, as his life revolved around obtaining results.