The Sunflower is a memoir of Simon Wiesenthal’s experience in a Polish concentration camp and his internal conflict of whether he did the right thing by remaining silent when a dying SS man asked him for forgiveness. Wiesenthal wrestles with this choice and at the end of his memoir, he extends the question “What would you do?” to the readers. Drawing my own opinion from a number of people including “theologians, writers, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, political leaders, and victims of attempted genocide in Bosnia, Cambodia, China, and Tibet” whom have responded to this question. I personally would have been just as conflicted as Wiesenthal was, but ultimately I would have chosen to forgive him.
“Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness”-Corrie Ten Boom. (“The beautiful kingdom warriors”). Forgiveness is easier sometimes when it 's a personal attack, but attacking a loved one it is a on a whole different level completely. After Corrie Ten Boom was released, she went back to the concentration camp and forgave the men who did the horrible things to her. Even though Corrie Ten Boom was sent to a concentration camp along with many others, she was arguably the most important woman in World War ll. She saved thousands of lives and brought many to the Lord.
We are humans and a majority of us have dealt with heartache, pain, broken promises, along with the joyous things like dreams, aspirations, and successful futures. Humans mess up and make mistakes, but we have to remember that forgiveness is a very prestigious and powerful thing. Forgiveness affects people’s lives in positive ways through the hardships, difficulties, and struggles of life. There comes a time when forgiveness should not be available to some individuals. However, this depends on the past situations that have occurred in your life as well as other individuals. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, was a girl who did not live the ordinary lifestyle. She had to overcome many occurrences with her family, from living a rough life
When I was younger, my parents taught me the difference between forgiving and forgetting. I believe that one can forgive without forgetting. When thinking about forgiveness, the first thing that comes to mind is the quote, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”. Do me wrong the first time and I will forgive you, however, I will not forget what you did so that you cannot fool me again.
Forgiving someone is one of the best things you could do. However, for you to forgive someone, you must accept what has happened and be ready to move on. Forgiving someone gives them an opportunity to redeem themselves, and allows them to move on as well. By accepting the past, you might find reasoning within the mistakes of the others, and give you as better understanding of how you should act. Forgiveness is a large part of The First Stone, and within the story is a valuable lesson: By forgiving someone, you are allow both yourself and the other person to move on and grow, as well as allowing you to look back in an unbiased way. By giving someone a second chance, you have bestowed upon them an opportunity to make up for their past mistakes,
John Green once said, “The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive” (Green). Louis (Louie) Zamperini, a World War II hero, knows this to be true better than anyone else. In the novel Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand, Zamperini is a mischievous runner in the 1936 Olympics who is later drafted into the United States Air Corps. On a mission, his plane crashes, leaving him and two other crewman stranded on a raft. After 47 days, Zamperini and Russell Allen Phillips (referred to as Phil) are captured by Japanese officials and shipped to camps where they became prisoners of war. As readers follow Zamperini’s story through Unbroken, Louie shows how he overcame his suffering as a POW, which allows
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Why is it strenuous to forgive? Humans are thought to be “hard-wired” meaning that when someone detris our pride, vivitates our self-esteem, or desecrates our dreams, we lose something valuable to us. We want to compensate for the damages. We either want revenge or hold a frozen grudge. When someone does us wrong, we relive the situation over and over again. They may have only hurt us one time but we think about it consistently and the
Everyone has heard the saying “nobody is perfect” and it is true we are all humans, we all make mistakes sometimes, but to what extent does someone stop forgiving when they have endured all the hardship a person gives them after they have been forgiven several times. There is a certain point in life when some people do not deserve to be forgiven because every time that person is forgiven, that person takes advantage it because that person knows they will be forgiven. There is one very prominent character in a story who fits the reason of why some people do not deserve forgiveness, especially when they've been given multiple chances to do the right thing. That person is Amir from the book the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Khaled Hosseini in his novel the Kite Runner Explores the theme of sin and atonement
I feel that forgiveness is not for the other person, it’s a process that provides you the energy and the self-confidence to move on.
What makes one person want to harm another? One reason a person may want to harm another is to get revenge. In the book The Year We Disappeared by Cylin and John Busby, John wants desperately to get revenge on the person who shot him in the face while he was out on a night patrol. John finds himself desiring to inflict harm on John Meyer, the person he assumes shot him, yet he does not know if this is the right thing and considers forgiveness as an option. Since the start of mankind, humans have had to contemplate these three ideas when deciding between forgiveness and revenge: the reasons people forgive, the reasons people commit revenge, and how their choice will impact others.
Truman Capote, through his celebrated nonfiction work ‘In Cold Blood’ depicts the events preceding and following the brutal murder of the prominent Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, 1959. The text clearly emphasizes that compassion must be extended to all victims of the violent crime. The term ‘victim’ is not exclusively reserved for the murdered but is extended to the family, friends and the entire community of Holcomb. To a lesser extent, Capote demonstrates that compassion should be shown to one of the killers. Capote challenges the reader to become compassionate towards Perry Edward Smith, despite knowing he murdered four innocent
“Just because your pain is understandable doesn’t mean your behavior is acceptable.” One important life lesson is that people can change. You can learn this lesson by making mistakes in life, learning from other people and experiencing rough times.
Rainer Maria Rilke, author of “From Childhood,” and Alden Nowlan, author of “Mother and Son,” are both understanding of the fact that everyone has a mother—a woman from which each individual in existence was brought onto the earth. Through their literary works of art, their knowledge that the biological tie between mother and child is something that all human beings possess is evident, as well as their understanding that any further relationship past this biological connection is in the hands of each individual mother. “From Childhood” is an account of a mother and son rapport in which the mother is the driving force that stifles and smolders her child’s flame. “Mother and Son” delves into another relationship between mother and son, yet this
Forgiveness is the action or process of forgiving or being forgiven. (Hawkins, 1994, P. 206) My personal understanding of the parable ‘The Prodigal Son” is that it portrays the importance of reasoning and forgiveness. The main characters in the parable are two sons and a betrayed father. The father remains constant throughout the parable, although he has being betrayed by his younger son. His idiosyncrasy remains loving and understanding, even when his younger son returned home after many of been away with not a penny to his name.