The Sunflower By Simon Wiesenthal Sparknotes

A girl walks down a busy hallway, bumping into another student. Her lips form the word “sorry” habitually, and the other student immediately nods, granting forgiveness with four words, “You’re good, no worries,” even though both people’s feet are still carrying them onto their destinations. Though a simple example, it is common. Due to the regularity and expectations to behave like these two individuals, the notion of forgiveness has greatly been devalued and misunderstood. Simon Wiesenthal attempts to enlighten the current society on the topic of forgiveness by sharing his story in The Sunflower and engaging the audience by challenging them to cogitate what they would have done if they were him. Wiesenthal successfully communicates the depth forgiveness embodies and examines differing perspectives concerning an

approach to absolution.
Based on true experiences that Wiesenthal experienced, The Sunflower is set in Holocaust concentration and work camps.

Surrounded by constant death and abuse, Wiesenthal notes the unfairness that Nazis, the killers, receive sunflowers on their graves while the Jews, the killed, receive absolutely nothing. The main scene of the story concerns the interaction of a moribund, young Nazi soldier and Wiesenthal. The soldier, whom Wiesenthal identifies as Karl, recounts his upbringing, joining the Nazis, and his misdeeds against the Jewish population to Wiesenthal. In particular, he is haunted by the experience of mindlessly killing a house filled with Jewish people and seeing entire families be destroyed. Karl explains that he sought out a Jewish person, Wiesenthal, to grant him forgiveness. After listening to the brutality and inhumaneness of Nazis, Wiesenthal does not grant forgiveness, instead saying nothing at all. Since that day, he admits to wondering about his decision to not forgive the man and seeks closure by visiting Karl’s mother, finding Nazis in hiding, and writing the novel to present the question, “What would you have done?” to the

audience.
Wiesenthal effectively develops a detailed and grotesque context, establishing more meaning and weight to the request for forgiveness. In doing so, he conveys to his audience that forgiveness is significantly more complex than it may seem. While countless people have been taught and instructed to forgive everything all the time, Wiesenthal captures the reality of the difficulty that accompanies forgiveness. Although Wiesenthal would rather have not listened to Karl, he chose to keep his mind open and abide to that request. After listening to Karl’s confession, Wiesenthal recognizes that he still has a choice as to what he does. In other words, Wiesenthal listens to Karl’s perspective but is cognizant that he does not have to abide by Karl’s wishes. This part of the interaction is essential as it displays the necessity to enable people to express their separate perspectives while still allowing a listener to maintain his own views. Likewise, Wiesenthal seeks the advice of several of his comrades upon his return to the concentration camp. He goes as far as to seek the advice and perspectives of every soul that reads The Sunflower by proposing, “You… can mentally change places with me and ask yourself the crucial question, ‘What would I have done?” (Wiesenthal, 98). By burdening the audience with this opportunity, Wiesenthal triumphantly motivates people to think deeper about the true value and intricacies of forgiveness while also promoting open mindedness to various worldviews.