Put yourself in the position of a prisoner in a concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do? In The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal raises that question for readers to wrestle with, and gives the responses of very distinguished men and women.

Before I even started reading this novel the first thought that came to mind was that in this test of the possibilities and limits of forgiveness, I would not have stayed silent like Wiesenthal. When given the opportunity of a Nazi soldier's confession, Wiesenthal chose to remain silent. Most would say they would do the same, which is completely understandable, and at first I thought the same about myself. But taking a deeper look, I have always forgiven people for everything. Not necessarily because I wanted to, but because its just how it works. Obviously I have never experienced a situation as drastic as Wiesenthal's, but I have always been a kid who feels compassion and sympathy for everyone (I felt bad for Alex in A Clockwork Orange).


It will be interesting to see how realistic Wiesenthal can make this situation for me, and how well he can pull me into his character. If he is able to do a good enough job, maybe my opinion on forgiveness will change due to the severity of the situation.