David Lynch incorporated many instances of parallelism in Twin Peaks. One thing that I noticed while watching Twin Peaks was that the people of Twin Peaks dismissed Leland’s actions as an imaginary person named BOB. It seems obvious that the people in Twin Peaks don’t want to admit that someone could do such evil. The reaction of denial in Twin Peaks is very similar to society’s reaction when Freud released his controversial Seduction Theory. I believe that Lynch draws parallels to the reluctance in Twin Peaks to accept the evil sides of man to society’s response towards Freud’s Seduction Theory. It is important for scientists to study psychoanalysis of incest, because it is in fact, prevalent in society. Denial prohibits progress towards rehabilitation. In 1896 Freud released his theory regarding incest and sexual development. Essentially, he claimed that there was an underlying incestuous desire between fathers and daughters and mothers and sons. There was extreme criticism and opposition to Freud. Even though he had support for his claim, society did not want to accept that such evil was present in their society. Lynch shows the reluctance of the characters within Twin Peaks to accept the darker side of man. Agent Cooper was given all the clues of the murderer, and they fit Leland’s description perfectly, yet he didn’t think Leland could do such evil to his own daughter. In “The Canonization of Laura Palmer,” Christy Desmet asserts that “After Leland’s confession and suicide, Agent Cooper bluntly asks Sherriff Truman whether he would prefer to believe that BOB worked through Leland or ‘that a man would rape and murder his own daughter.” Sherriff Truman did not want to accept the fact that a man could rape and murder his own daughter. He would rather believe that an imaginary person named BOB committed the evil crimes. This denial of the dark side parallels the controversy following Freud’s Seduction Theory debut regarding psychoanalysis of incest.
James O.
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The concept of good and evil is purely subjective but is mostly shaped by society. I believe that Lynch's reason for the character BOB is to fuel societies need to blame the supernatural for all that is evil. As Dr. Steven A. Diamond explains, the concept of evil is existential. "Demons [serve] as ready scapegoats and repositories for all sorts of unacceptable, threatening human impulsions, such as anger, rage, guilt, and sexuality." (http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/daimonic/psychologyofevil.html) By having BOB be a demonic force that possesses Leland, Lynch takes the blame away from the idea of a father killing his daughter to the work of an evil spirit. BOB gives Lynch an excuse for placing events of incest, murder, and rape on a family prime time channel.
-Crissy N.
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