We humans doubt our actions when we fight our own battles. The author of The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal, went through a sentimental battle. He was a Jew in the Holocaust, while working one day he was taken by a nurse to meet a SS Nazi soldier who was close to death. This SS Nazi soldier surprisingly told Wiesenthal, a Jew in the Holocaust, about all the crimes and death he has done and then he asked for forgiveness for all the people he has killed or potentially hurt. The author Wiesenthal never replied to the plea for forgiveness. Instead, he remained silent and he left .Years later, Wiesenthal shared this story to others and asked their opinions on how they would have fought his battle. Simon Wiesenthal should not have forgiven the dying
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In The Sunflower, the author was placed in a position where he was to represent all the people hurt or killed by the SS Nazi soldier, Karl. The author was burdened by the fact the he had to make a decision in which, even the he never met the people harmed he was given a choice to go and forgive the SS Nazi or to not forgive the Nazi. Another individual, Alan L Berger, quotes his opinion of the situation saying, “Simon should and could not forgive on behalf of those so cruelly murdered…” (pg 119). (author last name & “pg” is not needed)use furthermore in the other hand to explain the quote This quote not only supports the claim that Beger felt that Simon could not forgive the SS Nazi but also adds for the fact that SS Nazi had been inhumane when killing the Jews. Furthermore, Simon did not know the jews personally so that concluded to the fact that he could not infer their opinion on whether they would or would not forgive the SS Nazi. In addition, if Simon had inferred and forgiven the SS Nazi, then the Jews killed or harmed would be degraded or less respected because, by forgiving Simon took away their individuality or their right to make their own decisions and being proud about themselves. This also connects to the stereotype Berger explains …show more content…
We all are taught this ritual of forgiving others form a early age whether we practice or don’t practice this ritual a lot. From the Sunflower, the SS Nazi had approached the last stage of his life: death. This soldier now feels guilty and wants to do something about the guilt thus he looks upon forgiveness. Kushner explains this as “the cleansing power of repentance by facing the same situation” (pg 185). This relates and explains what the SS Nazi soldier might have been going through when he was asked to forgive or what had lead him to ask for forgiveness. The argument that the SS Nazi can be best expressed despite the fact that he had admittedly acknowledged his actions and his deeds is because the value or the true power of forgiveness would be truly lost. Forgiveness is used to make us humans get rid of the transition word or a lead in for your qoute“shame of the past so that we can be different people, choosing and acting differently in the future” (Pg.184) This supports the argument that people not only forgive others for them to feel pity or sympathetic but to also use it for themselves and be able to self assess the individual themselves . Not only will they feel better when they forgive but also when they are able to be free of the burden. As seen in the book and also in many of the responsive essays, forgiveness has many variations and meaning
In The Sunflower, the author was placed in a position where he was to represent all the people hurt or killed by the SS Nazi soldier, Karl. The author was burdened by the fact the he had to make a decision in which, even the he never met the people harmed he was given a choice to go and forgive the SS Nazi or to not forgive the Nazi. Another individual, Alan L Berger, quotes his opinion of the situation saying, “Simon should and could not forgive on behalf of those so cruelly murdered…” (pg 119). (author last name & “pg” is not needed)use furthermore in the other hand to explain the quote This quote not only supports the claim that Beger felt that Simon could not forgive the SS Nazi but also adds for the fact that SS Nazi had been inhumane when killing the Jews. Furthermore, Simon did not know the jews personally so that concluded to the fact that he could not infer their opinion on whether they would or would not forgive the SS Nazi. In addition, if Simon had inferred and forgiven the SS Nazi, then the Jews killed or harmed would be degraded or less respected because, by forgiving Simon took away their individuality or their right to make their own decisions and being proud about themselves. This also connects to the stereotype Berger explains …show more content…
We all are taught this ritual of forgiving others form a early age whether we practice or don’t practice this ritual a lot. From the Sunflower, the SS Nazi had approached the last stage of his life: death. This soldier now feels guilty and wants to do something about the guilt thus he looks upon forgiveness. Kushner explains this as “the cleansing power of repentance by facing the same situation” (pg 185). This relates and explains what the SS Nazi soldier might have been going through when he was asked to forgive or what had lead him to ask for forgiveness. The argument that the SS Nazi can be best expressed despite the fact that he had admittedly acknowledged his actions and his deeds is because the value or the true power of forgiveness would be truly lost. Forgiveness is used to make us humans get rid of the transition word or a lead in for your qoute“shame of the past so that we can be different people, choosing and acting differently in the future” (Pg.184) This supports the argument that people not only forgive others for them to feel pity or sympathetic but to also use it for themselves and be able to self assess the individual themselves . Not only will they feel better when they forgive but also when they are able to be free of the burden. As seen in the book and also in many of the responsive essays, forgiveness has many variations and meaning