I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of cognitive dissonance.
Direct from Wikipedia:
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions.[2] Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.
What I get from this theory is that people have an idea of what they are. Mostly we believe that we are good people. But what happens when we are placed in a situation that causes us to come face to face with the cracks in our humanity? On top of Waltz with Bashir being a pretty clear case of PTSD, I also think it deals with this notion of dissonance.
In this graphic novel we are led through Ari Folman’s quest to recover his memories of the 1982 Lebanon War. As reader’s we are aware that soldiers are asked to do and witness some pretty traumatizing events. But what was it about the massacre that led him to completely wipe his memories of what occurred? Did he corner a group of women and children and then was asked to kill them? Maybe some of us were slightly confused by the passive role he played in the massacre, as in how could just lighting a few flares create enough guilt to erase a chunk of memory?
In reality, the leap from doing something like lighting the way and actually being a part of murder is not that hard to make. I can say from personal experience that doing nothing is almost as culpable as actually taking a part. And both acts will change or haunt a person.
I think another important aspect of this notion comes when Folman says that he was the child of two Auschwitz survivors. Part of the reason he blocked out the memories came because he helped in the mass extermination of thousands of people. He may not have done anything more than light some flares, but the Israeli army backed the Philangists. I think in the cultural context of Israel can help explain why Folman feels so much guilt and trauma as a result of the events that took place.
Kacy, I agree with your idea of cognitive dissonance, and wonder what it must have been like for Folman to both serve in the Israeli army and write a personal memoir about the massacre and his personal experiences in delving into his memory in order to recall them. One of the prior reading from Maus touch on memory as being dynamic, as did the psychiatrist friend of Ari in WWB. But, what the document author also brings out is the idea that you do not remember traumatic events until you are ready to do so; this also aligns with the shrink in WWB when he commented that “There’s a human mechanism that blocks us from going into the dark areas we want to keep closed. Your memory will only take you where you need to go” (17).
Perhaps the idea that danger is all around you is reflected in the homey scene with predominantly neutral but realistic colors on page 14 where the shrink is giving advice. He hugs his son, they look similar to each other and the scene is sparse but domestic. As he pours coffee, we see the space cognitive dissonance has carved out for itself as the child reaches with both hands on the counter only inches from where he could reach a large butcher knife and the scalding hot cups of coffee. These pieces are offset from the cozy red oriental rug, pillow, basketball , and in following frames, a wall-mounted basketball hoop, toys, and blankets.
Danger is hard-edged and inevitable either in the cognitive present or in the conscious future.