Topic: Importance of history & relation to memory loss.
Title: Ansel Bourne
- Idea: Using the example of Ansel Bourne, a man with dissociative fugue (multiple personalities) and amnesia, to illustrate what happens when we lose our memory.Relating that to a nation that loses an accurate knowledge of its history.
- Plan the major developments and turning points:
- Exposition
- Rising Action
- Climax
- Falling Action
- Resolution
- What is the Context? Describe the setting: who is involved, what is happening, and why should the audience care? Which sensory details are included in the story?
- Ansel Bourne (1826-1910), experienced partial amnesia in 1857 and was seized with the idea of visiting a chapel. He became an evangelical preacher living in Coventry, RI. Prior to that, he was an experienced carpenter. On January 17, 1887, he set out to visit his sister and ended up in Norristown, PA, where he set up shop as a stationer and confectioner using the name of A.J. Brown. On March 14, 1887, he woke up not knowing where he was & no memory of the preceding 2 months. With the assistance of his nephew, he returned home and was treated by psychologists. He could be induced to assume the personality of either Bourne or Brown. His story was most likely an inspiration for the name “Bourne” in the movies and the novel series The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. (Source: Wikipedia)
- What is the Conflict? Describe the moment where something happens and impacts the direction of the story. Describe the conflict needing resolution in the story.
- 1857 – partial amnesia visited a chapel and became an evangelical preacher instead of a carpenter. 1/17/887 – went to Norristown, PA and opened a store. 3/14/1887 – woke up not knowing where he was & no memory of how he got there. He returned home with the help of his nephew. He lost his memory and switched personalities. His personal and professional life became confused with the existence of two personalities.
- What is the Outcome? Describe the result of the conflict. What happened to what was at stake? What action is taken, and what is the result?
- Personal and professional confusion due to amnesia and two personalities. He was not able to lead a normal life with a consistent life story that was grounded in personal facts and experiences.
- What is the Overall Idea? Summarize what you want the audience to know, think, feel, or do differently after the story. A succinct takeaway is easier for the audience to understand and recall.
- They must understand and appreciate the fact that knowledge of our nations’ past is just as important to all Americans as their own personal past is to them. They cannot forget the benefits we have gained from our experiences implementing a democratic-republican form of government. They must be able to analyze and recognize internal and external threats to our government, and formulate appropriate responses to counter those threats and protect our way of life.
Story Line:
- Ansel was living in Coventry, RI in 1851 as an experienced carpenter. He started to walk from his home to a village nearby when he passed a Christian Chapel. He declared that he was bitter enemy of God and said to himself, “I would rather be struck deaf and dumb than go there.” Almost immediately his senses left him. He collapsed and was carried home where he regained his consciousness, but he found himself deaf, dumb, and blind. His experience convinced him of the existence of a deity, and he asked forgiveness. A few days later, he regained his senses. He visited the church again and had his confession read to the congregation, who were convinced they witnessed a miracle.
- He eventually became an evangelical preacher. This was a man who had a wife and two married daughters who lived in New York State.
- In January 18, 1887, he decided to visit his sister. He traveled by horse and carriage to Providence, withdrew some money from the bank, paid some bills, and went to the store and home of his nephew. But from that point on his memory went blank.
- It turned out he made his way to Norristown, PA, where he rented a storefront and opened a small business selling stationery and confectionery items in the name of A. J. Brown.
- Suddenly, on March 14th he woke up and did not know where he was or how he got there. He went to his landlord and asked him “Who am I and how did I get here? He could not remember anything that happened to him since he left is nephew’s house in January.
- A local physician was called and diagnosed him with amnesia.
- His nephew, Andrew Harris, was contacted and he came to get him. He returned to Coventry, RI as Ansel Bourne.
- He was examined by physicians and psychologists, including William James, famous Harvard psychologist, and it was determined that he suffered from a “dissociative fugue” or split personality. Each personality was not aware of the other personality.
- Another interesting thing about this story is that his last name was Bourne and he became the name sake for Jason Bourne in The Bourne Series of novels by Robert Ludlum and the 5 subsequent movies.
- Our personal identity is a creation of one’s culture, location, experiences, developmental trauma, family, relationships, and brain activity. Identity evolves over a period of one’s lifetime. It serves multiple functions acting as a self-regulatory structure that provides meaning, direction, and a sense of self-control in one’s life.
- Imagine what would happen if a nation lost its identity or lost track of the events that shaped it history, culture, institutions, etc. Totalitarian countries like Russia, China, North Korea, Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and many others have famously rewritten their nation’s history, changed their governmental institutions, and controlled the media to support the desires of the dictator. It is important to remember that our democratic government and institutions were developed in opposition to selfish desires of a British Monarchy and complicit Parliament. Any country that worships and bows down to a single dictatorial leader is doomed for destruction.
Sources: Wikipedia article on Ansel Bourne; “The Psychology of Identity: Lessons from “The Real Life Jason Bourne”, www.neuroscienceof.com; “The Real Bourne Identity: The Psychology of Ansel Bourne.” Psychology Today; “The Ansel Bourne Identity: A 19th Century Mystery”, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
