Unraveling the Interplay of Culture and Cognitive Dissonance in Moni Mohsin’s the End of Innocence: A Critical Textual Analysis

Abstract

Inconsistencies among cultural beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors instigate the development of cognitive dissonance in humans at an early age. The prominently obtrusive symptoms of such dissonance include belief disconfirmation, induced or forced compliance, and effort justification. The psychological discomfort experienced after having contracted a dissonant state of mind results in the drive to reduce the inconsistency through a process termed Dissonance Reduction. The research paper attempts to decipher the confinements of the traditional belief system and the conflicts it triggers in the cognition of the female protagonists in The End of Innocence. This study explores the convoluted link between culture and cognitive dissonance, focusing on the cultural contexts that influence how cognitive dissonance is perceived and resolved. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance and one of its fundamental tenets i.e., the forced compliance principle is employed as the theoretical framework to scrutinize Mohsin’s text. With a peculiar emphasis on a child and a teenager protagonist respectively, this critical study finds out the role of varying cultural and social backgrounds in making dissonance a part of life discourse.