Ah, that was beautifully vicious. I must hand it to you, I started to think, during Clark's reminisces about the evening, that maybe something had occurred to Lois -- even if she didn't get her memory back, maybe she remembered *something* about her feelings for Clark. But no...
And that was the most interesting part. Rarely will writers in this fandom write either of these characters as conniving. Of course that leads to your philosophical question, and I'm happy to bite, especially since I don't think the primary purpose of fiction is to entertain, I think it's to explore the human condition.
To wit, does our past predict our future? Do our memories inform our actions? I think there's no question that who we are is largely a product of what we've done and what we've experienced. But what's left when the slate is wiped clean? What is there of personality that exists without conscious memory? I think there is some kernel of identity that precedes most of our life experiences - whether you're going to be outgoing or shy, lighthearted or serious is often apparent in infancy. But perhaps our experiences, good and bad, serve to constrain or amplify our natural impulses.
So does that mean Lois's natural impulses are to manipulate the feelings of others? Or is this brainwashing at work? Good for Clark for recognizing Lois's odd and repetitive speech patterns, so hopefully he'll figure it out. But that still doesn't tell us what -- if anything -- we can glean about who Lois is from this experience.
It's good to remember, too, that once empathy -- the ability to see things from someone else's point of view -- is really acquired around age six or seven, it is ingrained in the brain in the frontal lobe, separate from memory. Amnesiacs don't become sociopaths, but people who suffer frontal lobe damage, like the famous psychology patient, Phineas Gage, do. So unless Lois's brainwashing overrides it, she should develop some sense of guilt over what she's done to Clark (unless she can find a way to justify it because of Clark's kidnapping her). Because she seems to understand how much Clark loves her and seems to believe that they were, indeed, going to get married, she shouldn't be able to go through with this with a clear conscience. Again, Deter's evil brainwashing notwithstanding...
It'll be interesting to see where you go with this, ML. I'm looking forward to it!
Regards,
Rac
