Similarities Between Memento And Inception

Inception. Memento. Two award-winning films directed by one of the greatest storytellers of our generation, Christopher Nolan. Inception: a story of a man struggle to determine whether he is living in a fantasy or a reality. Memento: a story of a man trying to avenge the death of his beloved wife. At glance, both films seem anything but alike. However as the possibly of deeper meanings are explored, we find that this is far from the case.
Memento tells the tale of former insurance investigator, Leonard Shelby, who suffers from extreme short-term memory loss, a disease in which he cannot make new memories. He developed this after he was injured while trying to stop two men from raping and killing his wife in their home. After Leonard awakes to find that the infamous John G. has gotten away, he vows to …show more content…
Leonard and Cobb, both, express extreme cases of survivor guilt over the death of their spouses and are unable to heal from their psychological wounds. Cobb’s constant guilt over the effects of inception on Mal gives her quite the negative influence on his subconscious. Cobb’s sub-conscious projections of Mal are what prevent reconciliation and it is only when Cobb permanently removes Mal from his subconscious that he can truly heal. For Leonard, it is easier for him to imagine himself as the grieving husband avenging his wife than it is as a serial killer. To Leonard, there is not other purpose in life but avenging his wife’s death. He believes this so much that he deliberately disregards the truth so that he can find another John G. Cobb eventually does let go of Mal, as opposed to Leonard who refuses to accept that moment of revelation and dooms himself to a purgatory of endless avengement. Both films end with the protagonist believing in a false reality that makes them happy. Leonard lies to himself and erases the truth about what really happened, Cobb appears to still be dreaming though he thinks its