Gaslighting, Gaza, and Genocide

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New York City police in riot gear march into Columbia University to break up peaceful protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. (Kena Betancur/AFL via Getty Images.)

The manipulation of truth to mislead people is known as gaslighting. We’ve been seeing a lot of that lately, and I’m going to discuss a real-life example before talking about gaslighting in novels.

As most of you undoubtedly know, there has been an outpouring of protest on numerous college campuses against the Israeli assault on Gaza that has left at least 34,000 Palestinians dead (the vast majority women and children), hundreds of thousands of other Palestinian civilians homeless and starving, many hospitals blown up, many schools destroyed, and more. This of course happened after the horrific Hamas attack on Israel last October 7 that killed more than 1,100 people. Which happened after years of Israel’s harsh authoritarian control over Gaza. Which happened after the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis (not the Palestinians) — an unspeakable trauma that has influenced Israel’s actions ever since its founding. But it’s a shame when the oppressed become the oppressors.

The college protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but that hasn’t stopped various university administrators and elected officials from sharply escalating the situation by sending in aggressive/militarized police to attack and arrest the admirable students, many of whom were subsequently suspended and kicked out of campus housing — even as rich right-wing alumni donors threatened to derail the students’ future career prospects.

What kind of gaslighting is coming from those rich right-wing alumni donors, university administrators, mainstream-media outlets, and politicians — including not only most Republican pols and many Democratic pols (among them President Biden) in the U.S. but also Israel’s far-right prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu? It involves falsely describing the protesters as violent and (despite many of the demonstrating students being Jewish) also falsely describing them as anti-Semitic. Criticizing Israel’s government and the worst tendencies of Zionism is not being anti-Semitic. Sure, a tiny sliver of the protesters and/or protest hangers-on have said problematic things, but almost every righteous movement has bad apples who attach themselves to a cause but don’t represent the essence of it.

In fact, the only recent, major, not-by-police violence was perpetrated by a pro-Israeli mob that attacked pro-Palestinian protesters on California’s UCLA campus — with a feeble law-enforcement response to that quite different from the police crackdowns on students peacefully opposing Israel’s siege of Gaza.

Why the gaslighting of pro-Palestinian protesters? Many reasons, of course, with a key one an effort to distract from Israel’s unrelentingly disproportionate response to the vicious October 7 attack. A response that the vast majority of the world’s citizens, and a majority of Americans, feel is over-the-top.

There have been a few notable university exceptions involving schools willing to negotiate with students on such matters as considering the divestment of funds that help the powerful Israeli military. Among those schools are Brown, Rutgers, and Northwestern (the latter two my undergraduate and graduate alma maters) — and their willingness to bargain kept things calmer on those campuses. Did those universities negotiate with their students in good faith? Maybe, maybe not, but it was something.

Novels with gaslighting? In a political/governmental sense, few feature more examples of the “g” word than George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which the dictatorial leaders churn out slogans like “war is peace,” “freedom is slavery,” and “ignorance is strength.”

In another dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, gaslighting is one of the tools the sicko male rulers of Gilead use to subjugate women.

On a more one-to-one level, we have the “second Mrs. de Winter” gaslit by creepy housekeeper Mrs. Danvers in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Mr. de Winter is no angel, either.

Edward Rochester also did some gaslighting when trying to keep a major secret from the title character in Charlotte Bronte’s iconic Jane Eyre.

Another memorable 19th-century English novel, Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White, has a gaslighting scenario too complicated to briefly summarize here…but it’s quite riveting.

Moving to more recent literature, J.K. Rowling’s The Ink Black Heart crime thriller features a nasty misogynist gaslighter who goes by the online alias “Anomie.”

In On Mystic Lake, the emotionally wrenching Kristin Hannah novel I just read, protagonist Annie is basically gaslit by two men (her old-fashioned widowed father and her sexist corporate lawyer husband who leaves her for a younger woman) into feeling she is less capable than she actually is. That’s something perpetuated by many men on many women in real life and fiction, as is also the case with the way Dorothea is treated by her husband, the Rev. Casaubon, in George Eliot’s superb Middlemarch. And gaslighting is sometimes perpetuated by women on women, with one example being the behavior of Valancy Stirling’s disapproving mother in L.M. Montgomery’s classic The Blue Castle — until Valancy finally leaves her childhood household at age 29.

One final note: When American students and others in decades past strongly/publicly protested such abominations as racism, sexism, homophobia, the Vietnam War, South African apartheid (via the divestment movement), and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, they were vilified by an “establishment” that rarely hesitated to send in the cops. Then, many years later, it became “safe” among at least part of the “establishment” to do the revisionist-history thing and acknowledge that the demonstrators had been morally correct. I suspect the students rightly protesting Israel’s collective punishment on Gaza might eventually be viewed the same way. It’s a shame that morally correct students can’t be respected in real time by “the powers that be,” but I guess those students are considered too threatening to imperial and corporate narratives.

Your thoughts about, and examples of, this topic?

My literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about a senior center and a data breach — is here.

108 thoughts on “Gaslighting, Gaza, and Genocide”

      • Gas lighting a condemnation without a shred of physical evidence offered as proof. Post Oct 7th Abomination Israel entered and now fights a war. Israel has warned the civilian population when and where attacks will occur; it has permitted refugees to flee. Genocide defined as the criminal act of extermination of a people. The American Indians qualify, as do the Armenians. You condemn Israel as “guilty of a form of genocide in Gaza”, yet you have not brought a shred of evidence to support your conclusions.

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        • Some responses to your points, with the evidence you requested:

          — October 7 was horrific, but it didn’t happen in a vacuum after years of Israel’s harsh authoritarian containment of/rule over Gaza.

          — Israel has indeed warned civilians at times, but when they fled from one place to another (many from Gaza City to Khan Yunis to Rafah) the Israel bombing often followed. Now Rafah is being attacked by the IDF. Also, were the seven murdered World Central Kitchen workers warned? The three young men walking down that road who were obliterated from the sky? Everybody hit by 2,000-pound bombs?

          — More than 34,000 Palestinians (mostly women and children) being killed in seven months certainly sounds genocidal to me. And that’s probably an underestimate, with many undoubtedly still buried under the rubble. Hospitals bombed, schools bombed…

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          • 21 Arab countries. Not one has given land to dhimmi Arab stateless refugee populations to establish self determination. Israel in 2005 gave Gaza for Palestinian self determination. The next year Gazans elected Hamas as their government.

            Oct 7th planned. Hamas uses its own people as Human shields. Hundreds of miles of tunnels but no bomb shelters built for their people.

            You equate Human error World Kitchen with planned intent Oct 7th as equal? That’s just nuts. Bunk on Hamas propaganda figures. Lies. Notice no separation between soldiers and civilians!!!

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            • I’m no fan of the Arab countries, but if Israel is going to claim it’s on a higher moral level than those countries, it should act like it.

              Yes, Hamas was elected, but not by all Palestinians, and certainly not by the many Palestinians born after 2006. Yet more than 34,000 Palestinians, whether they support Hamas or not, have been slaughtered.

              The death-toll figures provided by local Gaza health officials have historically been pretty accurate.

              Hamas is indeed a terrorist organization that uses human shields. But many civilians in Gaza have been bombed who were not in the vicinity of Hamas members.

              Human error killed those World Central Kitchen workers? I could possibly buy that if the WCK caravan was bombed once. But it was bombed THREE times.

              Yes, the October 7 massacre was intended by Hamas. The number of people intentionally slaughtered by Israel since then has been about 30 times higher — so far.

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              • Israel protects and maintains its own national interests, just like any other country on the Planet Earth. Goyim love to foist this “superiority” bull shit. Europe post Shoah has disgraced its good name reputation. Its not the job of Goyim to protect the Israeli good name reputation. Fuck “moral – White Man’s Burden” superiority. Shove this shit back up the butts of the faggot Nazi superior race!

                Biden was elected but not by over 70 million Trump supporters! Can’t start a war like Hamas’s invasion of Israel on Oct 7th exploded, and then thereafter bitch and moan about people who died in the war your the Hamas government started in the first place. Slaughtered? Bull shit. Israel did not line these people up against a wall and shoot them dead!

                Hamas supplies the death toll pie in the sky propaganda. Notice no distinction made between Hamas fighters killed from other killed!!!!! The BBC has even admitted, amazing that even this political rag, acknowledges that the Hamas casualty figures as bogus as a $3 bill.

                The purpose of fight a war to cause the unconditional surrender of the enemy. Patton said it best: No honor for you to die for your country. But to make the stinking bastard your enemy to die for his country.

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                • You and many others say or imply that Hamas’ disgusting October 7 actions happened in a vacuum. Seems like Israel’s oppressive treatment of Palestinians since the country’s 1948 founding had something to do with it. The cycle of violence began when Jewish settlers (with some international help) forcibly took Palestinian land in ’48, and that violence has continued ever since.

                  I sadly hear you about one side using every means at its disposal to try to defeat its enemy on the other side. If those are “the rules,” there’s little moral difference between the approaches of Hamas and Israel. Terrorists vs. state terrorists (with the latter of course having a LOT more military firepower).

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                  • Bunk. Say that Hamas raped the cease fire agreement. Just that simple. Drivel, Israel has not expelled the dhimmi Arabs like Jordand did in September 1970. Your revisionist history sucks.

                    All Arabs rejected the 1947 Two-State recommendation. Arabs lost their wars to throw the Jews into the Sea in ’48 and ’67. Your revisionist history sucks. Losing wars has its consequences. Twice Jews lost our wars to drive out the Romans. Jews became stateless refugees for 2000+ years as a consequence. Shove your “morality” up your overly pius anus.

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                    • mosckerr, I replied to each of your comments respectfully and never insulted you despite our major difference of opinion. For that, I get you saying to me: “Shove your ‘morality’ up your overly pious anus.” Very mature. I’m Jewish, by the way.

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                    • Dave you sit in a land not at war. By contrast you have not buried near kin killed in this Oct 7th Abomination war. I apologize for addressing you harshly, but your poppey-cock arrogance nothing short of contemptuous, at least that’s what it seems to me.

                      Amalek antisemitism plagues Jewry across the planet. Respectfully … are you married to a Shiksa or do you speak Hebrew and follow the cultures and customs of our People, or as an assimilated Jew do you know more about how Goyim maintain their cultural practices and identity than you do Jewish culture and customs? Your Jewishness puts me on my back foot. But do you maintain Jewish cultural identity or are you like the vast majority of g’lut Jews completely and totally assimilated?

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                    • I appreciate the (partial) apology. I have not been arrogant or contemptuous; that’s projection on your part, or you’re mistaking disagreement with arrogance.

                      Yes, the U.S. is not at war, but I have had one of my children die (because of medical malpractice), so I feel for any parent who has lost a child — whether Israeli, or, in many more cases, Palestinian. Also, several members of my extended family died in or fled the Holocaust.

                      I attended Hebrew school from when I was a kid until my Bar Mitzvah. So I know Jewish history and culture, and have read countless nonfiction books and novels with Jewish themes. Yes, I’m not observant now, but observant and non-observant Jews alike (as well as non-Jews) can be appalled at more than 34,000 people being killed — again, the vast majority innocent women and children.

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                    • OK I’ll accept your interpretation about yourself. Observant does not hold a monopoly upon Jewish culture and customs. But marrying a shiksa does.

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  4. Hi Dave, an interesting commentary on gaslighting. This is a term I had never heard of until a few years ago. I have read 1984, Jane Eyre, and Rebecca. I have been meaning to read The Woman in White but haven’t got there yet. Two other books that have gaslighting as themes are Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I can’t think of any others off hand.

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    • Thank you, Robbie! “Gaslighting” is definitely a term one hears more in recent years, even though it was partly popularized by the 1940s “Gaslight” movie.

      I think you’d really enjoy “The Woman in White” if you get to it. On the long side, but an amazing novel.

      I haven’t read “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Girl on the Train,” but I’ve heard about their gaslighting themes. Great mention!

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  5. Now I know you’re a lefty lunatic just as I had guessed from some of your earlier posts. Maybe not the Palestinians per-se (not sure where they popped up from, but very few in the Arab world seem to like them), but there was a close relationship between Muslims and Nazis. Go back to school and refresh yourself on that. Secondly, where have you been for the last 50 years? Under a rock? There are no “innocent” Palestinians. They are all Hamas. And Hamas is not a legitimate militia. It is a terrorist organization. Period. Finally, give me one example of the NYPD (or the police in any other American city) being gestapo-like, as you infer. David, you just wasted 10 minutes of my time. Don’t waste any more. Unsubscribe me ASAP.

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      • They are future Hamas and will be thusly trained.

        Need to get your head out of the sand — and out of the classroom.

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        • “They are future Hamas and will be thusly trained” — wow! Your view of Palestinians (the vast majority of whom are not Hamas) is quite disturbing.

          As for getting out of the classroom, I’m a writer, not an academic — though I greatly admire many teachers and professors.

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  7. Perhaps the original gaslighter:

    Mephistopheles, whose promises are illusory, and melt, often before even a short season of enjoyment,once one’s soul is in his grasping, red and slippery hand.

    His other names: Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Old Scratch, The Prince of Darkness, The Lord of the Flies etc.

    One early manifestation of the devil on the boards: Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus”.

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    • Thank you, jhNY! Terrific mention of the devil — a gaslighter indeed — and certainly a character in numerous literary works: “The Brothers Karamazov,” “The Master and Margarita,” “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant,” etc.!

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  8. A fraught topic, and as a fellow who marched on DC in 1969 during the Moratorium, I have sympathy for the protesters and I support them. Because I believe, as I did during the Vietnam War, that the protesters are right overall, and most, though not all, of the pols of both parties are wrong.

    Decades have rolled by without any resolution of the fundamental issues, and today, there is demonstrably less appetite on the ground for resolution than before 10/7/23.

    But a ceasefire to save the children of Gaza is a necessity right now.  12,000+ have been killed by the IDF since the incursion began, though none of these innocents were even born when Hamas came to power in Gaza.  The surviving children need water, medical supplies, food and shelter.

    NOW.

    Later, will be too late, though later, there will be time to negotiate and propose any number of plans for the region.

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    • Thank you, jhNY! Many excellent points! Yes, the protesters are right on this issue, and most politicians are not, and a couple of million people in Gaza are suffering horribly. A ceasefire and a huge amount of humanitarian aid are absolute necessities.

      Good for you for attending demonstrations in the past! I did, as well.

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    • Thank you, Esther, and congratulations on your silent vigil! Hope it had, or will have, an impact. And, yes, the villainous Iago was an expert gaslighter who wreaked a lot of havoc on Othello and Desdemona. Great mention!

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  12. Well written post, Dave. I think the concern, rightfully, is violence by some prostestors,hence the “militarization ” as you mention is, as our country is becoming more violent, we have lost count of mass shootings, Jan.6th insurrection. That is not to say people can and should protest peacefully, they, students, all who chose to exercise this right as 36k + deaths in Gaza is beyond devastating, the deaths would have stopped if Hamas, the authority of Gaza,would have released hostages after the October 7th massacre. May this war end and all others wars. We are doing very bad things to eachother, to our environment. We are in a dangerous world.😔

    Michele, E&P way back

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    • Thank you, Michele! Yes, it would help if Hamas released the rest of the hostages. (Hopefully many are still alive after all the Israeli bombing mostly paid for by the U.S. and Israel’s prevention of humanitarian supplies trying to be brought into Gaza) Of course, some hostages were released during that brief ceasefire that also saw Israel release a number of Palestinians it had imprisoned without formal charges since well before October 7.) And I agree — the U.S. is also a violent country, and we are in a dangerous world. 😦

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  13. Unfortunately, many people in authority consider the political value of a response to a crisis first, and the human value a distant second.

    As for fiction, I think of The Firm by John Grisham (probably many other books in his series). Unfortunately, having worked for “Big-8” firms in the early ’80s. the gaslighting isn’t as uncommon as we’d assume because it’s depicted in a novel. It is a technique that works.

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  14. Fortunately, to preserve the history of protests and specific protests as well, we have the music like Pete Seeger’s Down By The Riverside, Neil Young’s Ohio, David Bowie’s album Diamond Dogs which is based on Orwell’s book 1984 and Life During Wartime by the Talking Heads. So there’s a brief example musicwise. In art the famous painting by Picasso Guernica. As for gaslighting I think Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye since the protagonist, Holden Caulfield has largely been mislead by all those institutions which were designed to help him as he ventured into adulthood. Also, there is plenty of gaslighting in Tennessee Williams’s play Suddenly Last Summer, Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. I think this is getting rather lengthy so I’ll end here. Great theme Dave. Susi

    https://lithub.com/on-the-future-shock-of-david-bowies-diamond-dogs/

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    • Thank you, Susi! Yes — so much terrific protest music over the years! To add to your great list, also Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Gil Scott-Heron, Holly Near, Victor Jara, Joe Hill, Paul Robeson, The Clash, etc.

      And I appreciate your excellent examples of gaslighting in literature!

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      • Thanks Dave for the other music mentions. Kudos for mentioning the Palestinian protests. Personally, I protested against the Vietnam War in the 70s and the Gulf War 90s as part of the Houston Peace Coalition and passed the mantle on to my sister who protested against the murder of George Floyd. Before we are anything else in this world, we are human beings involved in matters that impact other human beings. We are not alone although at times it feels that way. Susi

        “And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.” Walt Whitman

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        • Great, Susi, that you (and your sister) were involved in various demonstrations! (I’ve been to my share in my younger years, too.) The rallies protesting George Floyd’s tragic murder by police were of course recent — and inspiring. Also, thanks for citing that memorable line by Walt Whitman.

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  15. I am conflicted because of the long history of persecution of Jews both in Europe and the Middle East, Jews need a safe refuge in the modern state of Israel. However I am troubled by the loss of life in Gaza, which Hamas is also to be blamed. I am a Christian of East Asian ethnicity so I’m not directly involved except all branches of Christianity consider this area to be the Holy Land.

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    • Thank you, Tony! I hear you. The Jewish people have been persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism was and is a plague on humanity. But Israel is now in a position of power — with the strongest military by far in the Mideast, and the largest recipient in the world of U.S. military aid. Israel is no longer David against Goliath, if it ever was. Hamas is clearly a terrorist group, but Israel actually helped fund it for years in an effort to keep Palestinian leadership disunited.

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      • I don’t think that gaslighting is involved, the U.S. Europe, Japan, and India are generally pro-Israeli, while Russia, China, and the entire Islamic world is pro-Palestinian. We might not like this but it is a fact of life. I don’t think that human beings can bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict minus divine intervention (which I believe in).          

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        • Thank you for the follow-up comment, Tony. Certainly most of the leaders who are either pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian are pretty obvious about it. And, yes, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems never-ending. 😦

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  16. Dave, thanks for tackling the pro-Palestinian protests on our college campuses. I’ve been following reports of the gaslighting on campuses here in Los Angeles. It’s devastating to realize the forces aligned against the right to exist of the Palestinian people in Israel. I give thanks for our young “Warriors of Light” who are willing to risk their future by refusing to accept the massacre of innocent civilians.

    Gaslighting as a major plot in novels is inevitable, given its prevalence in our personal and civic lives. Though some of these novels may be difficult to read, such as The Handmaid’s Tale, they are important stories in unveiling the cloaked and dark truth of our lives.

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      • Thank you, Rosaliene! Sorry for the delay in replying — three-hour power failure here in New Jersey. 😦

        Yes, Los Angeles has been one of the epicenters of pro-Palestinian campus protests and the very disturbing police crackdown on them. The students are indeed admirable, and the rights of Palestinians and their supporters have been trampled on for far too long.

        I agree that novels such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” are difficult to read — and necessary to read.

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  17. Dave – a timely post and discussion.The first writer that came to mind was Agatha Christie. Gaslighting is a common theme in various mysteries and psychological thrillers, often used to manipulate characters into doubting their own perceptions and sanity. It serves as a psychological tool to create tension and suspense, leading both the characters and the audience down a path of uncertainty and confusion. While the term “gaslighting” wasn’t widely used in Agatha Christie’s time, she used this technique brilliantly in “And Then There Were None” and “Crooked House.

    On the more serious side, I recall reading “Animal House”, “Brave New World”, and 1984!! These narratives were invaluable in helping me recognize “gaslighting” (before I knew the term gaslighting) as a form of psychological manipulation that makes a person doubt their own feelings, thoughts, and reality. The tragedy is that it is difficult to recognize when we are being manipulated. We may see it more as group think, working together, belonging to a community, or conformity – even being a good friend to “difficult” person.

    I still get chills when I read this quote:

    “Four legs good, two legs better! All Animals Are Equal. But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.” George Orwell, Animal Farm

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    • P.S Fahrenheit 451 is another wonderful example. Remember – the parlor walls are massive television screens that take up the entire living rooms and entertain shallow like Mildred and her friends. Deja vu!

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      • Thank you, Rebecca! Sorry for the delay in responding — three-hour power failure here in New Jersey. 😦

        So true that gaslighting is a big part of a number of mysteries and thrillers, including some by Agatha Christie. Heck, all the trapped characters in “And Then There Were None” were gaslighted by the vengeful murderer in their midst. Gaslighting certainly does create tension and suspense.

        Also, great mentions of “Animal Farm,” “Brave New World,” and “Fahrenheit 451”!

        Many excellent observations in your comment.

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      • Hi Rebecca, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 are both good examples of gaslighting. I have read both and found them fascinating. I hadn’t thought of Agatha Christie in this context but you are right about And then there were none. Murder on the Orient Express is another where there was a collective gaslighting.

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  18. The way the West is dealing with the issue is not only scandalous but also extremely worrying. Nothing less than freedom of expression is at stake.

    One would think that Europe would behave in a more balanced manner, but unfortunately this is not the case. e.g.: Just yesterday a London surgeon who has provided testimony about the current war in Gaza after operating during the conflict has been denied entry to France, where he was due to speak in the French senate. Germany has initiated this entry ban. (source: The Guardian)

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    • Thank you, Zettl Fine Arts! You’re absolutely right — freedom of expression is being trampled on. And it’s dismaying but not surprising that the London surgeon you mention with firsthand knowledge of/experience with the Gaza carnage by Israel is basically being censored. I’m glad there are online shows and podcasts in the U.S. and elsewhere that truthfully cover what the mainstream media won’t truthfully cover.

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      • Thank you Dave Astor! Yes, luckily there are great people who try to report neutrally. But we are also in a time when information is being manipulated on a large scale using AI or blocked from the system (not only X does it). Governments are terrified of students because they question things, have the appropriate education and, as academics, are bound to the duty to tell the truth.

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        • Yes! There are some great journalists and commentators in “alternative media.” But it’s unfortunately true that some online voices are suppressed or minimized by algorithms and more. And I agree that governments fear truth-telling students. If they didn’t, they’d ignore them rather than crack down on them.

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  19. The crazy thing with the news lately is that the novel I just finished writing devotes an entire chapter (and subsequent follow-ups) to the horrific police response at the 1968 Chicago National Convention. I also mention war in the Middle East several times. Apparently, the country takes one step forward and two steps back. For gaslighting in novels, I, Claudius and Claudius the God come to mind.

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  21. Great article Dave, what is happening right now in these peaceful demonstrations is baffling. I love Handmaid’s Tale although I still have yet to watch the series. I’ll look at some of your other books too. Maggie

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    • Thank you, Maggie! Glad you liked the post! It is so frustrating to see how peaceful demonstrators are being treated. 😦

      “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a powerful novel. I also liked Margaret Atwood’s relatively recent sequel “The Testaments.” I haven’t seen any of “The Handmaid’s Tale” TV series, but I’ve heard very good things about it.

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  22. There are similar demonstrations and protests at universities here in Canada, but so far no violence or police crackdowns. Some administrations have said they’re willing to discuss issues with the students.

    I just read Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Not sure about gaslighting, but there is certainly a lot of deception and posturing. It’s a depressing view of the publishing business and what a lonely struggle writing can be.

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  23. Thank you, Dave, for that mature voice. I remember that movie classic “Gaslight” of the 1940s that made an enduring impression on me. The common theme in such cases is that someone in authority or power undermines the victim’s confidence in her or himself. This also happens with advertising, or with the media’s slant on current events.

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    • Thank you, Katharine! “Gaslight” is indeed quite a movie — powerfully/hauntingly depicting one person undermining another person’s confidence in herself. And, yes, the media and advertisers are unfortunately also experts in that.

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    • There is another “Gaslight”, made in 1940 and starring the icy and mad Anton Wolbank, who to my eye, was a far more convincing sort of intimate monster than Charles Boyer. Wolbank’s most famous role is that of the ballet impresario in “The Red Shoes”, but he should not be missed in this role.

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        • Got acopy of the play here actually. Anyway, excellent post Dave and I will come back later. Just back from Prague where very interestingly we came across an outdoor photo exhibition being mounted all over the city about the Balkan War in the 90s. It was the most amazing exhibition centering round quotes and memories of the children there and also there was a long established Czech community in Croatia so there were boards about them and also how the Czech people then did all they could to help get the children out of there regardless of what nationality or faith they were and how later when there was a flooding disaster in the Republic no-one gave them more helppor came quicker to their aid than the Croations. This was at a time when there were a few articles not many where Croations just wished oil could be discovered so then finally the West might come to their aid. What became clear to us both as we walked round this incredibly heartbreaking and touching exhibition was that at the time the bulk of the reporting had this as a straight religious conflict when it wasn’t. Gaslighting par excellence actually.

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          • Thank you, Shehanne! As your example movingly shows, there are many historical precedents for humans’ inhumanity to their fellow humans, and to distorted media coverage of that. 😦

            But glad you got to Prague again; an amazing city from everything I’ve heard.

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                • I always hesitate to say ‘I think you’d like it,’ to anyone. With your love and knowledge of books, there would be much you might enjoy though. There’s old beautiful libraries at the Klementinum and also at the Strahov Monastery for starters. They are stunning actually and at the Strahov they also ahve some really ancient manuscripts in glass cases that you can see and take your time over. As a city itself it’s beautiful, the buildings the architecture. For me the nicest thing is it is not what might be called ‘cosmopolitan.’ The people are friendly, it is not an expensive place, very cafe culture and most of the visitor attractions are all easily accessible–not to mention very reasonably priced. We now stay right in the centre, a stone’s throw away from the Charles Bridge but on Kampa Island which is mainly parkland that at the weekends especially is the haunt of the local people, families, just chilling, picnicing–all simple pleasures. There was the United Islands music fest on–for some reason Kampa wasn’t involved this year, but another island a stone’s throw away too was and there must have been thosuands pouring in over the course of the day…some again are families etc who prob go there very week but anyway, there were food and drink booths and stages etc. But the whole thing shuts down at 11 and there was no noise, no trace of anything the next day, except the one booth style open air bar that is permanent there. If these things tick the box of how you want to see a capital city, then yeah, chances are you would probably like it.

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                  • It sounds REALLY good on all kinds of levels, Shehanne! I appreciate the detailed description of various things to visit! I’m going to cut-and-paste your comment into a Word document I have on my computer’s desktop containing assorted things I want to remember. 🙂 Will come in handy if I ever do visit Prague…

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                    • Thank you Dave, truly and that is an excellent idea. All places can be in your face to start with. But capital cities especially –often the break is short and then there’s language difficulties …heavens even street sign and map difficulties. The first time we went to Prague we were further away from the centre and it is a city of mainly small streets..many of them were not even on the map! We found our way to Old Town by default that first day we arrived, having sat in an airport all night. . So I do think it is helpful to get some inside type tips. Hotel choice can be very important. It was a great hotel the first year but away from everything….equally we don’t like being smack bang on some busy boulevard either. We like to get the flavor of the place and people so we prefer the kind of backstreets that way. I also think things like prices, food, attractions are important to know about.

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                    • Yes! If the hotel and some other things are not quite super-touristy, it can add to the experience! When we were last in Paris (2018), we stayed in an Airbnb apartment, so we felt sort of like part of the neighborhood — shopping at the local supermarket, using the local fitness center, etc. (Of course, the Airbnb concept has its issues and contradictions.)

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