Recognition and Realizations

When broken down to its basic Latin root, the word ‘recognition’ literally means to ‘rethink’—the process of recognition is one that implies a visitation to a concept or entity that has previously been introduced. A realization, however, connotes a fundamental shift in one’s own perception of a concept or entity.

An example of this can be seen in Virgil’s Aeneid. At the end of the epic, Aeneas—the eponymous protagonist of Virgil’s famous epic—falters before killing Turnus, the antagonist of the story. Aeneas hesitates to kill Turnus because he understands that Turnus has already been defeated and the war won by King Evander's forces. However, Aeneas recognizes the belt that Turnus is wearing—a belt that was previously worn by a young boy and ally of Aeneas that had been mercilessly slaughtered by Turnus. Turnus, in his arrogance, had taken the boy’s belt as a trophy. Even still, Turnus begs for mercy beneath the tip of Aeneas’s sword. Having recognized the belt and realized that Turnus was undeserving of mercy, Aeneas buries his sword into Turnus’s breast, killing him.

The ending of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest also illustrates the difference between recognition and realization. At the end of the novel (or movie), The Chief, a mute patient in a psychiatric ward, makes the decision to smother his friend, McMurphy, to death with a pillow. The Chief made this decision after seeing McMurphy for the last time—McMurphy having been lobotomized in an effort to quell his rebellious behavior. The Chief recognized McMurphy as his friend, but also realized that McMurphy had been reduced to a vegetated state and no longer demonstrated a capacity for a meaningful or enjoyable life. The Chief realized that killing McMurphy would be granting him freedom and an ultimate reprieve.

In both examples, both recognition and a realization occur. In both cases, the realization represents a dramatic shift in the perception of an individual and recognition occurs when an individual revisits or reviews a person or item that they once knew.