In a recent podcast interview with the Economist, actor Viggo Mortenson (he played Aragorn in Lord of the Rings) talked about his aging father who suffers from dementia. Mortenson’s father kept telling his caretakers about a seemingly strange incident from his childhood—the day when he forgot to close a pig pen.
Everyone thought the old man was spouting nonsense, until they discovered the truth behind the story. Apparently, when he was a boy during a time when food was scarce, he left the gate open, and the pigs got out and ransacked the family garden. He never admitted to his heedless mistake as a boy, but, clearly, his guilt had buried itself deep within his subconscious. Every secret, after all, is eventually brought to light.
