Blog #1 Response

     Recognition and realization live as brothers do—though both may seem to act as separate entities, interdependence inevitably binds the two at the core. At the surface, “recognition” denotes the perception of a complete phenomenon that the observer has comprehended before, while “realization” indicates the union of several previous ideas into a new single reality in the mind. In director Christopher Nolan’s thriller Memento, Leonard, a man who has lost the ability to synthesize new memories, undergoes many “realizations” by observing facts and creating new truths in his mind. Only after tattooing his body or collecting photographs can Leonard exercise “recognition”, in which he links new observations directly to his mementos. Seemingly, the main difference between Leonard’s recognition and realization lies within what type of knowledge each process yields; recognition merely allows old encounters to resurface, while realization signifies an awareness that was not present before. Upon further exploration however, the boundaries separating recognition and realization melt, as each process cannot exist without the other.

     Oscar Wilde details the downfall of an impressionable youth through a mixture of recognitions and realizations in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dorian initially realizes his own beauty after admiration from artist Basil, but he could not have come to this realization without recognition of Basil’s words as truth; therefore, Dorian’s vain acknowledgement bears elements of both realization and recognition. When Dorian recognizes that his portrait reflects his own internal evil, he must have first realized the existence of evil and wrongdoing. Similarly, Leonard’s realizations in Memento thrive upon his recognition of facts from before, while his recognitions of his mementos manifest only after his realization of their connection to new facts. Ultimately, recognition and realization work in tandem to create one’s understanding of the world, and their differences remain subtle at best.