Evaluating 'The Sunflower'

Evaluating “The Sunflower” While reading “The Sunflower,” the question is posed of whether or not I would have granted the dying SS soldier forgiveness. When it comes to the topic of forgiveness, most of us will readily agree that to forgive a wrong done to us, is a noble deed. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether we can forgive a wrong done to someone else. Whereas some are convinced that we can forgive and comfort someone who has wronged another, others maintain that we cannot extend forgiveness on behalf of someone else. I cannot imagine being in Simon’s place, but when I attempt to, and think of whether or not I would forgive the SS soldier, I do not think I would have.
The situation of being asked
forgiveness opens up so suddenly. Simon was in the middle of the horror of the holocaust, and all at once he has a request thrust upon him from the enemy’s side. There is not enough time to sort through his feelings to know if he would want to extend forgiveness. To be able to give something away, you have to possess it yourself. In this case it is forgiveness. I would have felt like a traitor, forgiving at a moment’s notice reflects little thought of the victims.
I believe that you cannot answer for someone else, and this is another reason why I would not have been able to forgive the SS soldier had I had been in Simon’s place. As Sven Alklaj, a Jewish writer, asks, “Who is entitled to speak on the behalf of the victims?” (Alkalaj 103). Simon was of the same race, and had been the victim to the horrible abuse of Nazi soldiers, but this particular soldier was not the one who committed them. How could you possibly grant forgiveness without having any way of knowing the feelings of the Jews trapped and burned by him? As Eva Fleischer stated, “The question, for me, is not whether he should have forgiven, but whether he could have done so. Was it in his power to forgive?” (Fleischner 139). It is one thing to say the words, but if you have not directly suffered from something, how would you have the authority to grant forgiveness? Another aspect of forgiveness how it affects the one being forgiven. The SS soldier knows he is only receiving forgiveness from someone of the same race, this Jew had not received any ill treatment from him. It seems the soldier is only grasping at forgiveness. Mary Gordon asked the question, “What does the Nazi expect to gain from being forgiven?” (Gordon 152). I believe the SS soldier would not have felt the peace of being forgiven, even if Simon had forgiven him. Feeling like I was trying to play God, that it was only a charade, would have held me back from extending forgiveness. The crimes weren’t against Simon, I believe he was not capable of forgiving them even if he had wanted to, or tried to.
To forgive is not to say that what happened is okay, but to be at peace inside yourself, and choose to let the past go.
It is letting go of the extra burden of bitterness that only damages people more, and being okay with lessoning the wrongdoers feeling of guilt. There is one last thought to what I would have want to have done, had I been in Simon’s place. That is to forgive on a personal level, to answer only for myself and not for anyone else. I would have wanted the SS man to know I believed him, to tell him I could not forgive in place of other people, but for myself, I would believe he is repentant, that I did not hate him. Never having been in such a horrific situation, I do not know if I would be able to. This thought is not directed at how a forgiving attitude would help the SS man, but how it would help me. Simon is not furious and bitter that he was asked to forgive a SS soldier. Instead he is pondering over whether he made the right decision, he was in doubt, knowing he could not speak for all the Jews. Desmond Tutu speaks of victims who have suffered much, yet forgive. He states, “This magnanimity, this nobility of spirit, is quite breathtakingly unbelievable” (Tutu 267). It is amazing to see someone forgive a wrong, Simon did not forgive him, but it is amazing that he even cared about the soldier’s request, and continues to think of as time
passes.
In conclusion, knowing my point of view could change drastically if faced with the events in Simon’s life, I feel like I would not be able to forgive the soldier because the crime had not have been committed against me. Forgiveness would not have been mine to give. I could have shown compassion for him, but the request is an impossible one to grant.