--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A variant of the amnesic-plot device is…" description: "\"“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman, unknown to h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png" --- # A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent… ![“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman, unknown to him, who is evidently his wife. The crucial scene is his being led off to bed. A non-amnesic equivalent is a twin or look-alike who is mistaken for…” quote by Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png) > ““A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman, unknown to him, who is evidently his wife. The crucial scene is his being led off to bed. A non-amnesic equivalent is a twin or look-alike who is mistaken for someone else—by a beautiful woman. Invariably she finds him not merely oddly different but somehow better, more attractive, than the original. After a love scene, she looks at him wide-eyed and smiling (you were never like this before!). This version demonstrates that the source of pleasure for the moviegoer is not the amnesia but the certified and risk-free license to leave the old self behind and enter upon a new life, whether by amnesia or mistaken identity.”” [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage explains that amnesia or mistaken identity plots let audiences experience a fresh, risk‑free version of a character, providing escapist pleasure. **In simple terms:** These tropes let viewers imagine a new life without past baggage. Key Takeaway Use narrative twists to explore identity and desire. Themes identity escapism storytelling psychology Mood intriguing reflective Type analysis theoretical When to use this quote - novels - film - screenwriting - psychological drama Key Concepts amnesia mistaken identity fantasy character reinvention Questions to Reflect On - What does the appeal of a clean slate reveal about us? - When is it healthy to reinvent yourself? A Different Perspective Risk of glorifying avoidance of personal responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful-woman/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Mistaken identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistaken-identity/) [New life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-life/) [Old self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-self/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes I think that love is a case of mistaken identity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-parsons/sometimes-i-think-that-love-is-a-case-of-mistaken-identity/) [Tony Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-parsons/) > [The whole campaign was a tragic case of mistaken identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/the-whole-campaign-was-a-tragic-case-of-mistaken-identity/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [“She’d read countless fantasy novels where the heroine was a chosen one, picked from all others to save the world, normally wearing a chainmail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-g-nuttall/she-d-read-countless-fantasy-novels-where-the-heroine-was-a-chosen/) [Christopher G. Nuttall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-g-nuttall/) > [“Mister Rob Anybody and sundry others?" said one of the figures in a dreadful voice. "There's naebody here o' that name!" shouted Rob Anybody.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/mister-rob-anybody-and-sundry-others-said-one-of-the-figures-in-a/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The theme of Death is to Poetry what Mistaken Identity is to Drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dannie-abse/the-theme-of-death-is-to-poetry-what-mistaken-identity-is-to-drama/) [Dannie Abse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dannie-abse/) > [Now I'm gone in your photograph I bet you wish you could get me back. Now I'm stuck in your memory a mistaken identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fefe-dobson/now-i-m-gone-in-your-photograph-i-bet-you-wish-you-could-get-me-back/) [Fefe Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fefe-dobson/) > [What is your trouble? Mistaken identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wei-wu-wei/what-is-your-trouble-mistaken-identity/) [Wei Wu Wei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wei-wu-wei/) > [Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/some-of-the-biggest-cases-of-mistaken-identity-are-among/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Mistaken identity, of course, has been the province of much postcolonial fiction. An important feature of this writing is the manner in which misrecognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/mistaken-identity-of-course-has-been-the-province-of-much/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [“To ‘kill time’ is a case of mistaken identity -- you have mistaken the victim for the perp.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oran-kangas/to-kill-time-is-a-case-of-mistaken-identity-you-have-mistaken-the/) [Oran Kangas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oran-kangas/) > [Claudia Rankine's Citizen comes at you like doom. It's the best note in the wrong song that is America. Its various realities-'mistaken' identity, social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/claudia-rankine-s-citizen-comes-at-you-like-doom-it-s-the-best-note/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [“It’s a case of mistaken identity. It’s one big mistake. You weren’t even in the country when it happened.” Maja in the short story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steen-langstrup/it-s-a-case-of-mistaken-identity-it-s-one-big-mistake-you-weren-t/) [Steen Langstrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steen-langstrup/) > [I've never been disbarred, committed or convicted of moral turpitude, and the only time I was arrested, it was a case of mistaken identity...I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-levine/i-ve-never-been-disbarred-committed-or-convicted-of-moral-turpitude/) [Paul Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-levine/) > [Enlightenment is beyond self-improvement and spiritual seeking. It is the final resolution of a case of mistaken identity. It is the direct recognition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-crowley/enlightenment-is-beyond-self-improvement-and-spiritual-seeking-it-is/) Gary Crowley > [“The Yogic path is about disentangling the built-in glitches of the human condition, which I'm going to over-simply define here as the heartbreaking inability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/the-yogic-path-is-about-disentangling-the-built-in-glitches-of-the-2/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## More by Walker Percy > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Americans are the nicest, most generous, and sentimental people on earth. Yet Americans have killed more unborn children than any nation in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/americans-are-the-nicest-most-generous-and-sentimental-people-on/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“The real wonder is not that the Cosmos is now seen as wonderful but that it is not. Despite its inconceivable vastness, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-real-wonder-is-not-that-the-cosmos-is-now-seen-as-wonderful-but/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“Ours is the only civilization in history which has enshrined mediocrity as its national ideal. Others have been corrupt, but leave it to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/ours-is-the-only-civilization-in-history-which-has-enshrined/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [ \[In art\] you are telling the reader or the listener or the viewer something he already knows but which he doesn't quite know that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-art-you-are-telling-the-reader-or-the-listener-or-the-viewer/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“People usually told him the same joke two or three times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/people-usually-told-him-the-same-joke-two-or-three-times/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [For the world is broken, sundered, busted down the middle, self ripped from self and man pasted back together as mythical monster, half angel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-the-world-is-broken-sundered-busted-down-the-middle-self-ripped/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Nobody but a Southerner knows the wrenching rinsing sadness of the cities of the North.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nobody-but-a-southerner-knows-the-wrenching-rinsing-sadness-of-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“For me, all signifiers fit me, one as well as another. I am rascal, hero, craven, brave, treacherous, loyal, at once the secret hero…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-me-all-signifiers-fit-me-one-as-well-as-another-i-am-rascal-hero/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“But the expectation of the self, to be informed in its nothingness--if only I can get out of this old place and into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/but-the-expectation-of-the-self-to-be-informed-in-its-nothingness-if/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Nothing remains but desire, and desire comes howling down Elysian Fields like a mistral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nothing-remains-but-desire-and-desire-comes-howling-down-elysian/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [A novel is what you call something that won't sell if you call it poems or short stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-novel-is-what-you-call-something-that-won-t-sell-if-you-call-it/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-search-is-what-anyone-would-undertake-if-he-were-not-sunk-in-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“Am I, in my search, a hundred miles ahead of my fellow Americans or a hundred miles behind them? That is to say: Have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/am-i-in-my-search-a-hundred-miles-ahead-of-my-fellow-americans-or-a/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“My theory is that the purpose of art is to transmit universal truths of a sort, but of a particular sort, that in art,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/my-theory-is-that-the-purpose-of-art-is-to-transmit-universal-truths/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) [Explore all 194 Walker Percy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## More Beautiful woman quotes > [A beautiful woman must expect to be more accountable for her steps, than one less attractive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/a-beautiful-woman-must-expect-to-be-more-accountable-for-her-steps/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [In New York, you are constantly faced with this very urgent decision that you have to make, about every twenty minutes...you have to decide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cross/in-new-york-you-are-constantly-faced-with-this-very-urgent-decision/) [David Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cross/) > [There is nothing touches our imagination so much as a beautiful woman in a plain dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-nothing-touches-our-imagination-so-much-as-a-beautiful-woman/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“Muriel sprinkled salt over her haddock mousse. ‘It is not easy to be specific, but both morally and hygienically there is . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-ibbotson/muriel-sprinkled-salt-over-her-haddock-mousse-it-is-not-easy-to-be/) [Eva Ibbotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-ibbotson/) > [“She told me once that when she was with me she felt like the beautiful woman she never thought she'd be. I can't imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-finn/she-told-me-once-that-when-she-was-with-me-she-felt-like-the/) [Elizabeth Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-finn/) > [No matter how beautiful a woman might be, you're always threatened by certain... You're always threatened by](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/no-matter-how-beautiful-a-woman-might-be-you-re-always-threatened-by/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [I was in the South of France, in Saint-Tropez and I met her when it was totally unexpected. I was very lucky because she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-stern/i-was-in-the-south-of-france-in-saint-tropez-and-i-met-her-when-it/) [Bert Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-stern/) > [Being jealous of a beautiful woman is not going to make you more beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zsa-zsa-gabor/being-jealous-of-a-beautiful-woman-is-not-going-to-make-you-more/) [Zsa Zsa Gabor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zsa-zsa-gabor/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A beautiful woman that can go out and then come home alone and lay in bed alone, is a woman with standards and self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-beautiful-woman-that-can-go-out-and-then-come-home-alone-and-lay-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Behind every successful man, there's a beautiful woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hammody-ali/behind-every-successful-man-there-s-a-beautiful-woman/) [Hammody Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hammody-ali/) > [You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and that's not saying much for you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/you-re-the-most-beautiful-woman-i-ve-ever-seen-and-that-s-not-saying/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [A beautiful woman looking at her image in the mirror may very well believe the image is herself. An ugly woman knows it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/a-beautiful-woman-looking-at-her-image-in-the-mirror-may-very-well/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“For here he was, barely able to tread water, some gargantuan lizard in the water with him, and the most beautiful woman in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-d-burns/for-here-he-was-barely-able-to-tread-water-some-gargantuan-lizard-in/) [Vernon D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-d-burns/) [Browse all 599 Beautiful woman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful-woman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman, unknown to him, who is evidently his wife. The crucial scene is his being led off to bed. A non-amnesic equivalent is a twin or look-alike who is mistaken for someone else—by a beautiful woman. Invariably she finds him not merely oddly different but somehow better, more attractive, than the original. After a love scene, she looks at him wide-eyed and smiling (you were never like this before!). This version demonstrates that the source of pleasure for the moviegoer is not the amnesia but the certified and risk-free license to leave the old self behind and enter upon a new life, whether by amnesia or mistaken identity.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walker Percy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beautiful woman" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/walker-percy-1958_beautiful-woman_a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is_296485.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he…” — Walker Percy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Walker Percy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A variant of the amnesic-plot device...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```