Abstract

Early in the 2020s, much American public discourse is enmeshed in the same sort of national, historical, and racial controversies that defined much of the 1990s. The southwest border remains a focal point, and immigration continues to trouble and frustrate our political process. Confederate memorials prevalent throughout the southern states have prompted conversations about history, tragedy, and justice. And the national debate over Critical Race Theory has raised tensions over public school history curricula. In 1996, auteur John Sayles considered these themes in his masterpiece film, Lone Star, and his thoughtful treatment has aged exceptionally well. This essay draws on ideas from Friedrich Nietzsche and Hannah Arendt—especially their conceptions of forgetting and forgiving, respectively—to analyze Sayles’ film and, ultimately, to comment on America’s ongoing interrogation of its rich and tragic past. In their work, I argue, we may locate the rhetorical tools necessary to break a long, vicious, recriminating cycle.

Key words: Collective Memory, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hannah Arendt, John Sayles