56 pages • 1 hour read
Simon WiesenthalThe Sunflower
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1969A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 6-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: "Alan L. Berger"
Alan Berger focuses on a particular detail of Wiesenthal’s story, the fact that “Simon was twice silent: once in the presence of the dying Nazi, and once in the presence of the dead man’s mother” (118). He recognizes that the first act of silence, Simon’s denial of forgiveness to Karl, was justified in that it respected both the dead Jewish victims and the “sanctity of forgiveness” (118). He also acknowledges that Simon’s decision when visiting Karl’s mother to remain reticent about her son’s crimes was an act of grace.
Berger goes on to draw on Jewish teaching on forgiveness, pointing out that Judaism distinguishes between sins committed against God and those committed against humans, and indicates that a person only has the right to forgive sins committed against himself, not those committed against someone else. Furthermore, Berger points out, the Nazi’s desire to receive forgiveness from any Jewish person is a further perpetration of the misdeed of seeing all Jewish people as part of an “amorphous, undifferentiated mass” (119).
Berger explores the question of whether Karl’s repentance was sincere. Based on the Hebrew understanding of “repentance” as “a turning away from evil, a turning toward Torah” (119), he points out that Karl only turned away from his own evil behavior when he had no other options left. Berger asserts that, based on recent studies of SS officers, it is likely Karl could have refused orders on a moral ground earlier in his career without being punished. Characterizing the forgiveness Karl requests as “cheap grace” (119), Berger states that the kind of religious teaching that allows people to “ask forgiveness thereby requiring from others the moral integrity which they themselves so sorely lack” (120) is reprehensible. He expresses doubt that Karl would have repented at all had he not found himself facing certain death.
Chapter 7 Summary: "Robert McAfee Brown"
Robert McAfee Brown highlights the difficulty of forgiveness from a moral and theological perspective. To accept that forgiveness is godly, in light of the death camps, would require that God is malevolent rather than loving. Drawing on the words of Elie Wiesel, Brown asserts that even the notion that God lives among the victims, suffering alongside, is insufficient to account for the many million lost lives.
As a counterpoint to this view, Brown acknowledges historical evidence to show where forgiveness can actually effect change, specifically in the cases of Nelson Mandela and Tomas Borge. Brown makes the tentative suggestion, that “an act of forgiveness on our part could tip the scales toward compassion rather than brutality” (123).
Chapter 8 Summary: "Harry James Cargas"
Harry James Cargas begins with the statement “I am afraid not to forgive because I fear not to be forgiven” (124). Acknowledging that justice must exist alongside mercy, Cargas asserts that most individuals are guilty of something for which they would wish to receive mercy rather than the justice they deserve.
Acknowledging the value of forgiveness, Cargas goes on to question whether there might be certain cases where forgiveness is not appropriate. He points out that Christian teaching refers to an “unforgivable sin” (125) and then raises the point that there might be sins that we as humans do not have the right to forgive. His final assessment of Wiesenthal’s situation is that to forgive such a deathbed confession is something beyond his right to do. While God may forgive Karl, human beings may not do so.
Chapter 9 Summary: "Robert Coles"
Robert Coles writes on the assumption that Wiesenthal believes himself correct in his decision not to give forgiveness on that day. Further, he takes up the invitation to offer his own perspective as an act of solidarity with the many victims, an act of bearing witness after the fact. Rather than placing himself in the shoes of Wiesenthal, Coles grounds his response firmly in the context of his own life, in his own experiences and teachings.
Having situated himself thus, Coles says that if he had been in Wiesenthal’s exact situation, he would likely have done exactly the same as Simon had done, yet he would feel guilty for having done so. And despite aligning himself with the act of Simon, Coles believes that forgiveness is a part of a way of life that fosters personal accountability, self-discipline, and personal growth and improvement.
As a final thought, Coles highlights the fact that the legacy of The Sunflower is not to discuss the question of forgiveness or to find a conclusive solution to the problem Wiesenthal raises. The legacy of the story, according to Coles, is “that we never, ever forget what happened to him and millions of others” (129).
Chapter 10 Summary: "The Dalai Lama"
The Dalai Lama responds from the perspective of Buddhist teachings and draws on his experience with China’s treatment of Tibet. He urges forgiveness in principle, but advises against forgetting. In this succinct chapter, the Dalai Lama asserts that forgiveness and compassion is the means by which the victim retains dignity and integrity.
Chapter 6-10 Analysis
In Chapters 6-10, the concept of cheap grace arises in a number of ways. Focusing on the guilt of the dying Nazi, Alan Berger seeks to understand Karl’s repentance, whether it was sincere or not. The assumption inherent in this question is that there are levels of worthiness when it comes to forgiveness. For Berger, the question of whether Karl’s confession constitutes a sincere repentance is at the heart of the question of whether Simon should have given him forgiveness.
While for Berger, forgiveness is a function of the attitude of the sinner; for other writers, forgiveness is within the purview of the victim. For example, the Dalai Lama and Robert Coles suggest that forgiveness may be the last best means by which the victim may gain dignity and agency. Harry James Cargas goes so far as to suggest that forgiveness is close to imperative for the victim, for the simple reason that every individual has need of mercy in some way during life.
While most people consider forgiveness to be a factor in the moral equation of addressing misdeeds, Robert McAfee Brown lifts the concept of forgiveness out of the equation altogether. In his assessment, forgiveness has the power not to undo what evil has been done to the victim by the perpetrator, but, in fact, to change the society within which the evil was allowed to take place. For Brown, the act of mercy is a quality of goodness that is larger than the evil committed by the criminal and the pain suffered by the victim. Mercy is the means by which true revolution and correction can take place.
