False Peace of Mind

The point in Shutter Island when Laeddis flashes back to a mass shooting in the Holocaust reminded me of a similar image in the Kilmainham Gaol executions during the Easter Rising.  Sorry for another Ireland allusion, but stay with me, this will get good.  During those executions, they similarly took the nationalists and had a group shoot at each of them, one by one.  The tour guide of the Dublin jail most captured my interest when she told us how the executioners were told that one of their guns contained only a blank, to rid them of the guilt.  They would comfort themselves in the fact that they might not have killed anyone.  At that point in watching the movie, oblivious to the mind-blowing twist of an ending, I noted how if only someone had told DiCaprio’s character the same thing; he would not have these disturbing flashbacks to warzones.  But in our discussion of the surprising ending to this epic film, I realized how much significance my correlation to the Kilmainham Gaol execution tactics had.  We discussed the notion of making up truths in one’s past to create comfort and peace of mind.  Everyone from Laeddis to the executioners at Kilmainham to members of our English class does this. I remember Chris revealed that he likes to pretend he is a superstar to go through his day.  I do a version of the same: at the end of the day I replay conversations and think of what I wished I had said.   But as Carolyn said, the difference between sanity and insanity lies in knowing that what you made up is not the truth.  That got me thinking, do these police guards in Kilmainham prison classify as insane or sane by that definition? If they like to think that their gun had the blank for some peace of mind, are we to fault them for altering their reality? They deserve the same peace of mind as anyone else and their hopeful imagination does not hurt anyone so why not let them live in that reality? On the same count, why not let Laeddis live in his reality, as long as he does not hurt anyone?

A plaque commemorating those executed at Kilmainham Gaol in 1916