Previous
Rebecca Goldstein
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Forgiveness and Compassion
Religion and Moral Truth
Remembrance
Anti-Semitism and Dehumanization
Silence, Guilt, and Resistance
Summary
Analysis
Gordon sees Karl’s request for forgiveness as a narcissistic act, because it places his need to be purged of guilt over Simon’s need for restitution or recognition of having been harmed.
Gordon’s argument supports the idea that Karl should not be treated with greater care or concern than his Jewish victims or than Simon. Karl continues to make himself superior by putting Simon in a dangerous and uncomfortable position.
Themes
Gordon writes that forgiveness can be good for both the victims and perpetrators, but forgetting never is, because it is a form of denial.
Like others, Gordon makes a distinction between forgiving and forgetting, arguing that these atrocities should never be forgotten.
Themes
Karl is wrong to ask for forgiveness for two reasons, Gordon states. He is asking one man to serve as a public symbol for all Jews. He also misunderstands penance, because he is asking for private absolution to a public crime.
Because Karl cannot publicly receive justice or repent, Gordon believes that he should not be given the privilege of receiving private absolution.
Themes
In order to atone, Gordon writes, Karl should have publicly acknowledged his guilt. Then the atonement should match the crime, and Karl should be placed in the camps to die in the circumstances of those against whom he had committed crimes.
Gordon, unlike the other respondents, argues for vengeance. But most of the others do not pose forgiveness and vengeance as two opposite ends of a spectrum; rather, they suggest that the absence of forgiveness is itself a form of justice.
Themes
Get the entire The Sunflower LitChart as a printable PDF.
