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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24263
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24263
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Ultimately this is a question of psychology or perhaps neurology. How does human memory work? But I think it is reasonable to suggest is that what people remember is a novel is story and the things that matter to the story. If that is true, people will remember things that are connected to the story, and the more strongly they are connected to the story, the more strongly they will remember them.

And I think what that means is that if you introduced something 200 pages back as an aside or a piece of scene setting but did not connect it strongly to the story arc, then the chances of the reader remembering it when it becomes plot-relevant 200 page later are close to zero.

But if you introduced it 200 pages back in a way that was integral and important to the story, there is a good chance that when it becomes important again, readers will remember it. That is, of course, supposing you do actually have a strong story arc connecting the two incidents.

I suspect the reason that you can't remember which dwarf is speaking in the Hobbit is that, other than Thorin, the dwarves are interchangeable. It really does not matter which of them is speaking. Whether that is a design choice on Tolkien's part or a defect in the story is another matter. But I can't think of any way in which it matters if you can tell Bifur from Bofur from Bombur. The names rather suggest that it is not supposed to matter.

Original score: 20