The Sunflower Research Paper

Simon Garcia
12/21/15
Period 4
Facing History

In the book “The Sunflower” the big question that one would get from reading it would be “What would you have done if you were placed in Simon’s position”. I of course not being born in the time in which the event took place would mean that I would have had different feelings and motives at the time. It would seem almost impossible for me to be able to think in the way that Simon felt during the situation that occurred, I would truly end up forgiving him for what he has done simply because of the current life that I live. Though I have been provided the information given from both sides of the argument in whether or not to forgive Karl, I believe in my good moral values that he should be given
his final absolution. One of the earlier quotes that was said by Karl before he was even introduced as Karl went “I know...that at this moment thousands of men are dying, death is everywhere... I am resigned to dying soon, but before that I want to talk about and experience which is torturing me. Otherwise I cannot die in peace (Wiesenthal 27)” that being said the instant thing that would occur to me is that I would have wanted to forgive this man regardless of the current actions. I would have most definitely been mad at the Nazi’s, if an individual soldier would be able to confess their wrongs like what Karl did, it would make sense to forgive them. I would not be able to represent a whole group of people in behalf of the situation which is however the given situation that he placed in, but in a dying wish someone who would have the dignity to confess their wrongs should have that bitter sweet reality that was given to them. Josek approached the topic of group representation with this saying “This dying man looked on me as a representative, as a symbol of the other Jews whom he could no longer reach or talk to. And moreover he showed his repentance entirely of his own accord. Obviously he was not born a murderer nor did he want to be a murderer.” The last part of what Josek said would be a key point into what Karl’s confessions were. “The screams from the house were horrible...” in regards to his horrible actions according to Simon as of that moment “Karl’s hand went damp, He was so shattered by his recollections that he broke into a sweat” obviously guilty of what he had done to the people grouped in the building his individual mind should finally be at absolution in time of his enclosing death. No one in very low authority is usually successful in being able to represent a particularly large group such as the jews in the individual perspective.
One would still have the unforgiving nature along with the want for vengeance. The impending justice that would be brought out by Simon’s “Nazi Hunter” group should be enough to satisfy quite a bit of people. In the form of forgiveness however it is possible for anyone to forgive an action. In the words of The Dalai Lama, “I believe one should forgive the person or persons who have committed atrocities against oneself and mankind. But this does not necessarily mean one should forget about the atrocities committed. In fact, one should be aware and remember these experiences so that efforts can be made to check the reoccurrence of such atrocities in the future.” in his response to “The Sunflower” he states the fact that one can be able to forgive however their actions should have some sort of remembrance to the issue. Debora who is a professor on modern jewish heritage states that “I cannot speak on behalf of those who have been wronged-particularly those who have been killed.” Her stance justifies that one most likely cannot represent a massacred race of people. Someone who has went through a similar event such as the cambodian genocide like Dith Pran would have more of an understanding on how Simon would have reacted, said “as a witness to and survivor of the cambodian killing fields, I could never forgive or forget what
the top leadership of the Khmer Rouge has done to me, my family, or friends. I blame the dozen leaders, the brains behind a sadistic plot, who ordered the death of millions of people, including the disabled, children, religious people, the educated, and anyone who they thought was a threat to their ideas.” Dith had the stance that he as an individual could not forgive what has happened to the people around him expressing his hate for the ones responsible. All in all many people have their different stances on the topic of forgiveness making it a very individualized topic.