Silent Hill Heaven

In the opening scene, his story seems to be that he doesn't remember what happened to his parents, this according to his trucker buddy. I suspect that Travis wishes this was true, and tells people it is because it helps him avoid having to talk about it to other people, but I think he hasn't forgotten it at all. In fact, I think it's when he is faced with the monster representing his father that he asks "Why can't you let me forget?". I may be paraphrasing, I haven't played it in awhile. Still, it indicates to me that, whereas James successfully blocked out his memories, Travis has not resorted to such extreme measures.

What this means is, by my interpretation, his experience in Silent Hill is not about Travis remembering a forgotten childhood. Rather, Travis is continually haunted by these events and, unable to understand why they happened, has endeavored to avoid thinking or talking about them as much as possible. These memories are like radioactive waste and he has done the equivalent of tossing that waste into a closet where he doesn't have to look at it. It's still there and it's still harming him. And, he knows it.

So, his experience in Silent Hill is Travis being forced to face these memories and, importantly, approach them from an adult perspective. After all, he was only about ten or eleven when they happened, and his batshit crazy mom did try to kill him because she thought he was a 'devil child'. It is possible that Travis might have believed his mom was right, or at least sort of right, and if she was, then perhaps Travis might be to blame for her insanity and his father's suicide. That's the sort of absurdity a child might believe, and as a result, grow up into a man who has some serious shit fucking up his life, as Travis happens to be. But, given the chance to examine those memories firsthand, as an adult, with adult reasoning and sensibilities, he may be able to understand that his parents were assholes and it wasn't his fault.

Consider the possibility that Silent Hill presents the foci of his problems, namely, Mr. and Mrs. Asshole, as monsters because this is how a child might expect to wage a battle against his mind's darkness. A child tends to view things in black and white, in simple terms. A child will associate 'bad' with 'evil', and what more appropriate way for evil to manifest than as a monster? Part of Travis coming to grips with his past as a man is to strike down his childish concept of that past. Symbolism, wot! This may also be the driving force behind Alessa's manifestations, too: things she finds scary take on the presence of evil in her mind, and so we have monsters looking like dogs, asshole kids, asshole adults, and, uh, moths. And green little clicky-fuckers living in the sewers.

I think that's actually a rather good concept TEAM STUPID had going there, and it might have been rather glorious if they had remembered to give us perspective on this by showing us how his tragic childhood was dragging down his adulthood.

This is now canon.

Good theory man. I think I can run with it. And yes, 0rigins would have been better in general if they had given us that goddamn perspective. IMO, 0rigins should have been a console game right from the get-go...

P.S.- "green little clicky-fuckers living in the sewers"???

Ryantology wrote:In the opening scene, his story seems to be that he doesn't remember what happened to his parents, this according to his trucker buddy.

I don't recall, but is that scene/line ever given uninterrupted so that we can read or understand it completely? For example, when replaying the game?

Ryantology wrote:I suspect that Travis wishes this was true, and tells people it is because it helps him avoid having to talk about it to other people, but I think he hasn't forgotten it at all. In fact, I think it's when he is faced with the monster representing his father that he asks "Why can't you let me forget?". I may be paraphrasing, I haven't played it in awhile. Still, it indicates to me that, whereas James successfully blocked out his memories, Travis has not resorted to such extreme measures.

I just had a look at the script, and he does indeed say "Why won't you let me forget? Why are you doing this to me!?" after the boss fight with his dad.

Ryantology wrote:What this means is, by my interpretation, his experience in Silent Hill is not about Travis remembering a forgotten childhood. Rather, Travis is continually haunted by these events and, unable to understand why they happened, has endeavored to avoid thinking or talking about them as much as possible. These memories are like radioactive waste and he has done the equivalent of tossing that waste into a closet where he doesn't have to look at it. It's still there and it's still harming him. And, he knows it.

I'll admit, that's a much better idea than Travis legitimately not having any recollection and just being a crappy actor. He doesn't seem surprised when learning the fates of either parent, nor does he seem too concerned when he's confronted by their monster forms. Instead, he seems to just be re-enacting childhood memories, and perhaps even nightmares.

While I think about it, do we know of his mother's fate? I vaguely recall reading somewhere that she may have been alive when Travis visited the Sanatorium during the game.

Ryantology wrote:I think that's actually a rather good concept TEAM STUPID had going there, and it might have been rather glorious if they had remembered to give us perspective on this by showing us how his tragic childhood was dragging down his adulthood.

If they really did intend for Travis not to have amnesia, then yeah, they could have done a better job at showing how his childhood and memories were affecting his adult life. Personally, I think such a theory makes 0rigins less crappy and a lot less cliché.

Remember in the beginning where his trucker buddy brought up his past and Travis replies" You don't see me bringing up your issues"

I figured that this meant he remembers what happened, but he is just trying to shove it away.

I really like your theory and I'm taking it into my canon. It makes the game feel a lot more like its own game and more standalone for me in that light.

I really like this theory and it makes me see Origins in a different and better light. Thanks.

Thanks for pointing out the Travis doesn't have amnesia. I guess it has been too long since I've played.
I already viewed 0rigins in a pretty positive manner, but this ties everything together.
I'll replay it soon-ish, as I'm replaying the games in anticipation of Mr. Pendleton's upcoming trip to Disneyland.

Was it ever implied that Travis had "forgotten"? I certainly never inferred that. :-S

Cyrus Hanley wrote:Was it ever implied that Travis had "forgotten"? I certainly never inferred that. :-S

I never felt like that was the case either. In fact, the trucker that Travis talks to in the beginning says something about these events to him, but static stops us viewers from hearing what he says, because the narrative relies on the viewer not really knowing what Travis is trying to forget, not Travis. Travis knew full well what happened in the past, but just like the OP said, he didn't understand it or look at it with maturity.

I feel like every character has amnesia now due to Silent Hill 2, and not because they're written that way, but because the fans have to keep projecting their boners for SH2 onto everything they see. I mean, outside of Homecoming, there hasn't been amnesia. That's two games. And anyone who says that Shattered Memories had amnesia obviously didn't understand what they were seeing.

This got off topic... sorry.

Ryantology wrote:In fact, I think it's when he is faced with the monster representing his father that he asks "Why can't you let me forget?". I may be paraphrasing, I haven't played it in awhile.

I found that cutscene. Your theory isn't theory, it's fact.

Ryantology wrote: I think that's actually a rather good concept TEAM STUPID had going there, and it might have been rather glorious if they had remembered to give us perspective on this by showing us how his tragic childhood was dragging down his adulthood.

Well, he is a truck driver.

Kidding aside, Travis is mentioned in-game to have sleeping troubles (probably one of the reasons why he became a trucker) along with flashbacks to his father's funeral. And he doesn't have a significant other, though YMMV on whether that's because of his job or his childhood.

Cyrus Hanley wrote: And he doesn't have a significant other, though YMMV on whether that's because of his job or his childhood.

I wouldn't necessarily put it down to his job. Plenty of truck drivers have families, regardless of the hours and distance. Perhaps it is because of his childhood, but then again, some people just don't have partners at different points of their lives for whatever reason.