Its Always Sunny In Nazi Europe.... excuse the reference

The Sunflower, what more is to be said about this book that has not already been stated in my previous two posts about it.... well for my sakes I hope I can come up with two more quality posts for all your enjoyment. While many see this book as to be a long, boring read. More than half of the book is reviews and reactions to the first ninety-eight or so pages of the novel. In particular there were a few entries that caught my eye.......
1) Harry James Cargas has the first entry that I had to reread. Professor Cargas raises the question, "Who am I to forgive" (Cargas 125)? He initially believes that forgiveness is the route to go, but when it comes down to such terrible events that "Hitler and his henchmen have committed", these events have gone too far (Cargas 125). When reading his response you can really feel how torn he is. Cargas, a Catholic, believes in G-d and G-d's belief of forgiveness. He ends this dilemma agreeing with Simon Wiesenthal's decision to not forgive the SS soldier and by asking G-d to have mercy on his soul.
2) The Dalai Lama also had a interesting point of view on the situation the book describes. He says that forgiveness is always important, but that does not mean that you have to necessarily forget a terrible event. He relates the Holocaust to the Chinese invasion of Tibet, where over 1,200,000 Tibetans died. Since the Buddhists believe in "nonviolence and compassion", it would be too easy for the Dalai Lama to just call the Chinese their enemy; he believes the same should be true for Simon Wiesenthal. Instead of condemning Karl Seidl and Germany Wiesenthal should have forgiven them.
3)Theodore M. Hesburgh is a reverend and former President of the University of Notre Dame. His response is quite lame and it seems that he is a pushover. As a priest, he says how it is his job to forgive those who have sinned. An example of this is the confessional. He "sits in a confessional for many hours and forgive(s) everyone who comes in" (Hesburgh 169). Hesburgh will always forgive no matter the situation. In my opinion I do not believe everythign he says. It is a bold statement for him to make, saying he will always be forgiving. There are certain situations, this being one of them, where forgiveness is not the way to go.
Well that wasthe last of my The Sunflower posts. Overall the book was okay, and made me think a lot about my heritage and how I would approach the situation Wiesenthal encountered.