The Sunflower
Table of Contents
I The Sunflower A. The Primary Storyline ……………………………………………………………………..3 B. The issues that emerged …………………………………………………………………4 C. Wiesenthal’s moral problem
On Book I: The Sunflower Primary Storyline
When I read the book it all boiled down to me that the main topic being discussed is the word forgiveness. Because the act of forgiveness has complex philosophical, moral, religious or spiritual aspects, it requires and deserves a thoughtful analysis of our beliefs. The main character in the book was a man name Simon Wiesenthal and who was also the author of this book. The primary story line of the book, Simon Wiesenthal was a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp in Lemborg, Poland. He did pass a Polish cemetery on a forced journey to a Technical School which had been turned into a make shift hospital. On each grave site a sunflower had been planted, each standing straight. This is where the title of the book derived from. He envied those lying in their graves because they had been properly buried, a sunflower marking their graves, with butterflies flying overhead. He predicted his burial site would be a mass grave. After arriving at the make-shift hospital, he was secretly led by a nurse to a dying SS member’s bedside. The soldier recalled his past experiences with the Hitler youth group and his volunteering for army duty. The SS soldier described “the terrible thing” he had done and said, “Some time elapsed before I realized what guilt I had incurred.” Simon couldn’t forgive the soldier and left him in silence. Simon began to doubt his choice to leave the soldier without offering the forgiveness he sought. Simon was shuffled to different work camps until he was sent to Block 6 where death was imminent. After the war he joined a commission to investigate war crimes. After seeing a field of sunflowers, he decided to visit the soldier’s mother. After the encounter, his doubts remained. In the concluding paragraph, the author
I The Sunflower A. The Primary Storyline ……………………………………………………………………..3 B. The issues that emerged …………………………………………………………………4 C. Wiesenthal’s moral problem
On Book I: The Sunflower Primary Storyline
When I read the book it all boiled down to me that the main topic being discussed is the word forgiveness. Because the act of forgiveness has complex philosophical, moral, religious or spiritual aspects, it requires and deserves a thoughtful analysis of our beliefs. The main character in the book was a man name Simon Wiesenthal and who was also the author of this book. The primary story line of the book, Simon Wiesenthal was a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp in Lemborg, Poland. He did pass a Polish cemetery on a forced journey to a Technical School which had been turned into a make shift hospital. On each grave site a sunflower had been planted, each standing straight. This is where the title of the book derived from. He envied those lying in their graves because they had been properly buried, a sunflower marking their graves, with butterflies flying overhead. He predicted his burial site would be a mass grave. After arriving at the make-shift hospital, he was secretly led by a nurse to a dying SS member’s bedside. The soldier recalled his past experiences with the Hitler youth group and his volunteering for army duty. The SS soldier described “the terrible thing” he had done and said, “Some time elapsed before I realized what guilt I had incurred.” Simon couldn’t forgive the soldier and left him in silence. Simon began to doubt his choice to leave the soldier without offering the forgiveness he sought. Simon was shuffled to different work camps until he was sent to Block 6 where death was imminent. After the war he joined a commission to investigate war crimes. After seeing a field of sunflowers, he decided to visit the soldier’s mother. After the encounter, his doubts remained. In the concluding paragraph, the author