English 4ib Essay
Forgive and Forget or Forgive but Never Forget?
Holding grudges has always been something that people frown upon. Forgive and forget is something we usually hear from our elders but everyone knows it is much harder to do than said. Meanwhile, other says forgive but never forget because if one allows the same mistake twice it means that we had brought it upon ourselves. So which one is the correct way of life? The first is a way to put ourselves at ease and become a loving carefree person, while the other is a guard: a protection from the outside world and its betrayals. Naguib Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs portrays Said, a man just released from prison, who blames all his misfortunes on the people who he believes has done him wrong. Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden revolves around Paulina, a woman who had been raped and cannot seem to forget about the horrific experience. Both authors prove to readers that although people try to forgive and forget, forgetting is probably the most difficult to do which will then come back around just like karma.
Said is what people would consider a professional burglar. After years of imprisonment, he is finally released but he is still filled with anger and resentment. “But who of these people could have suffered more than he [Said] had, with four years lost, taken from him by betrayal? And the hour coming when he would confront them, when his rage would explode and burn, when those who had betrayed him would despair unto death, when treachery would pay for what it had done,” (Mahfouz 151). Once released into the open world, right then and there Said had a goal to destroy all those who had destroyed him. Mainly, it was his wife, Nabawiyya and her new husband Ilish, who used to be his follower, and Rauf, his old friend.
However, he realized he still had one thing to live for, his daughter Sana. He decided that
“the best thing would be to forget the past and start looking for a job to provide a suitable home
Holding grudges has always been something that people frown upon. Forgive and forget is something we usually hear from our elders but everyone knows it is much harder to do than said. Meanwhile, other says forgive but never forget because if one allows the same mistake twice it means that we had brought it upon ourselves. So which one is the correct way of life? The first is a way to put ourselves at ease and become a loving carefree person, while the other is a guard: a protection from the outside world and its betrayals. Naguib Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs portrays Said, a man just released from prison, who blames all his misfortunes on the people who he believes has done him wrong. Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden revolves around Paulina, a woman who had been raped and cannot seem to forget about the horrific experience. Both authors prove to readers that although people try to forgive and forget, forgetting is probably the most difficult to do which will then come back around just like karma.
Said is what people would consider a professional burglar. After years of imprisonment, he is finally released but he is still filled with anger and resentment. “But who of these people could have suffered more than he [Said] had, with four years lost, taken from him by betrayal? And the hour coming when he would confront them, when his rage would explode and burn, when those who had betrayed him would despair unto death, when treachery would pay for what it had done,” (Mahfouz 151). Once released into the open world, right then and there Said had a goal to destroy all those who had destroyed him. Mainly, it was his wife, Nabawiyya and her new husband Ilish, who used to be his follower, and Rauf, his old friend.
However, he realized he still had one thing to live for, his daughter Sana. He decided that
“the best thing would be to forget the past and start looking for a job to provide a suitable home
Cited: Dorfman, Ariel. Death and the Maiden. New York: Penguin, 1994. Print. Maḥfouẓ, Najīb. The Beggar ; The Thief and The Dogs ; Autumn Quail. New York: Anchor, 2000. Print.