I would argue that as a developed species, humans are capable of many things. We have opposable thumbs and technology that set us apart from most mammals and less than eight legs which means we are not arachnid like, so why is it that when it comes to horrific cultural events we tend to have the memory of goldfish?

In our Global Citizens CAP stream and history class, we are talking about the causes, the events, the outcome, minor and major details, key agents, etc. of World War Two. Yet when looking at all the articles, books and texts, it is easy to notice the year gap from when the war happened and when the books were published. For example the Second World War happened from 1939-1945 but Louie Zamperini’s book Unbroken, detailing his euphoric high of competing in the Berlin Olympics to being taken prisoner by Japanese soldiers was only published in 2010. The same is for Obasan, and Australia’s Forgotten Prisoners being published in 1981 and 2007 respectively.

Maybe we can blame this on the lack of resources to record and print these memories/ stories; there was simply no time to write about what was happening after the war because people were too busy trying to rebuild themselves and their community. We could also blame it on the pain that comes with bringing up such recent and tragic events. Yet, there is The Diary of Anne Frank, which details the extent of her time while hiding in the attic from German troops during the Holocaust. Maybe it is because it is easier to heal when you forget than when you have to struggle through the painful truth. My only other idea could be based on Paul Connerton’s theory of humiliated silence (http://mss.sagepub.com/content/1/1/59.short). In his article 7 Types of Forgetting, he uses the German silence after the war as an example of how tabooed an event can become that it leads to mass silence. Connerton also has this to say on humiliated silence,

         “…some acts of silence may be an attempt to bury things                beyond expression and the reach of memory; yet such silencing, while they are a type of repression, can at the same time be a form of survival, and the desire to forget may be an essential ingredient in that process of survival (68).”

Could this hint that in order for the German people to continue to identify as German and live with themselves after such heinous acts of violence, they had to forget? Or that until recently, there have be no adequate ways to describe what happened?

The thing that interests me most about this subject is that when books or movies are released about these tragic events, they become bestsellers. Which is strange because the thing that everyone was trying to hide, is now the thing that everyone is talking about. We see this with Obasan, which is a very famous Canadian novel, and Unbroken which is a Time 2010 Nonfiction book of the year and is about to be premiered as a major motion picture. The other explanation could be that we like to see how other countries messed up, hence America finding Unbroken and Fury, which obviously make the Axis powers seem like brutal, barbaric, cruel people, very interesting movies. Yet this is not something that just applies to World War Two or other terrible world events.

Mental illness is something that the majority of people tend to not discuss. Just as there was a taboo on speaking about World War 2, there is a certain taboo about discussing depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia etc. There are even asylums built to keep people with mental illnesses out of the general population; which is a concept that existed in WW2 where many of these people were killed by the same Nazi regime that killed thousands of Jewish people. A recent example of mental illness gaining a voice and being drawn to the attention of millions of people came in the form of Oscar award winning movie Silver Linings Playbook. It tells the story of a man (played by Bradley Cooper) who suffers from bipolar disorder and a woman (played by Jennifer Lawrence) who is suffering from neurosis. It was nominated multiple times at 29 awards shows, winning many including Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress at the Golden Globes and the Academy awards and Best Film at multiple shows. After that something that had remained a very private issue was the subject of a large public discussion.

In a way we have Hollywood to thank for creating such a large discussion and awareness of the things we used to silence. While we still resemble goldfish as we often forget the things that had been so widely talked about and replace it with a new issue or event, memorials, organizations, etc. are often put in place that leave some reminder.

As Remembrance Day approaches, the silence that is usually held around wars is often dropped. There are veterans scattered around towns handing out poppy pins, there are people everywhere wearing those poppies and the media often broadcasts veteran stories or important details. It is the one dedicated time of year when we pay our respects to the people that served, listen to their stories and make all the memories that were silenced, loud. Although many people forget about why we have Remembrance Day the other 364 days of the year, it is a small step to make the things we want to forget something that we can learn from, remember and use to make the future a better place.

Connerton, Paul. “Seven types of forgetting.” Memory Studies 1.1 (2008): 59-71. Web. 18 Oct.

Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken. United States of America: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2010. Print.

Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1981. Print.

Twomey, Christina. Australia’s Forgotten Prisoners, Civilians Interned by the Japanese in World War Two.      New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.