Guilt In Saito's Deception

The reconciliation of the guilt goes hand and hand with the escape from the eternal return. In a similar way that Cobb enters the cycle, the moment where he begins to reconcile and finally accomplishes the reconciliation of his guilt appears within a particular scene. This occurs in Fischer’s subconscious, where Mal holds him hostage; she only allows them to leave if Cobb stays with her. Cobb first suggests that he will stay to be with Mal, but ultimately says, “Saito’s dead by now…I have to stay here and find him.” This statement from Cobb signals his readiness to break the cycle and a symbolic rejection of lingering heterosexual romance in favor of homosocial bonding, mirroring the Orpheus myth. As the scene continues, Mal forces him to

He tries to save both of them, and could not know that the thought would take over her mind and make her believe reality was not real. The statement of the truth provides the necessary scaffolding for Cobb to forgive himself, which he does when he says, “You’re just a shade. A shade of my real wife.” Within classical antiquity, the term “shade” refers to a ghost and Rilke emphasizes this notion as well (Waiting on full source). Cobb realizes that the Mal he sees is only a projection of his own mind. At the same time, he comes to understand that he can reconcile past trauma if he allows himself to let Mal go; her purpose as a representation of his guilt allows an audience to see the physical reconciliation of his guilt. Cobb also comes to understand how desire works with trauma; his desire for Mal increases as result of her death, yet can never be attained. She becomes the object-cause of Cobb’s desire, never to be attained after death, always maintaining a constant distance from the subject, Cobb (Žižek 4). Mal’s unattainable nature reflects her descriptor as a “shade” as Cobb did “attain” her before she died in unreality and reality, meaning death places her in an unattainable