During the course of one’s life, one will encounter situations in which one strongly feels a particular way despite a lack of evidence. Often, the strength of such convictions will cause one to act rashly, projecting one’s views onto others due to one’s tumultuous emotional state. More often than not, this rashness results in one making decisions that will harm both oneself and those around one. The rifts that are created as a result of such difficulties lead to tension and differences between individuals for years to come. From such divisions, one must find a way to be forgiven for what one has done, as only then can one obtain peace with others and oneself. In Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Briony Tallis’s struggle on her path to understanding and correcting an injustice demonstrates the manner in which one can be forgiven, showing that in order to achieve forgiveness one must take the path of righting one’s wrongdoing and admitting the truth of one’s situation. To begin, the naïvety and distorted views of reality that Briony Tallis possesses reveal her inability to understand the meaning of justice. Briony, who is only thirteen at the time, “views the adult world from a child’s perspective, seeing adult acts through the lens of melodrama” (“Atonement” 7). As a result, in reading Robbie’s letter she immediately “[casts] herself as her sister’s protector” (McEwan 115), and thus imagines that Robbie is attacking Cecilia in the library. This can be seen in her perception that
This analysis studies Phelan’s quest for attaining forgiveness and reconciliation rested on improving four important ongoing struggles, relationships, economic status, dependence, and depression.
Upon the death of his child, Francis, completely shattered, unable to ever express the situations to anyone. Francis had just turned from “Father” to “Killer”, because “Gerald
“The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events: a marriage, or a last-minute rescue from death; but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” – Fay Weldon
Imagine one Janie Crawford, back in Eatonville, once again under the watchful eye of the jealous townspeople, scrutinized and harshly judged. Janie has been in this situation before, a long time ago, but what is different this time? The difference, among many others, is that Janie has taken a look at her core values, her goals, and her aspirations, and changed her outlook on life.
“I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It’s a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s an evolution of the heart.” (Kidd)
Forgive, not because they deserve forgives, but because you deserve peace. It’s not easy to stop blaming someone’s fault, especially for someone who do wrong to us. In the book The Sunflower written by Simon Wiesenthal, a survivor of the Holocaust during World War II, he described his conflict with Karl, a dying Nazi soldier who killed many innocent Jews and begging for forgiveness for his outrageous crime at the end of his life. At the end of this sad and tragic episode, Simon did not response to Karl’s request directly; instead he left us a tough question: “What should you have done?” Based on what Karl had done during World War II and his repentance, each person might have their own point of view about where should we draw the line of forgiveness.
Taking time away from forgiveness can deepen our understanding of the world, giving us perspective on our challenges. Tori Rodriguez, Author of the article "Negative Emotions are Key to Well-Being," says, "Attempting to suppress thoughts can backfire and even diminish our sense of contentment. " Here, author Rodriguez suggests that forgiveness can cause us to hide our negative emotions and only focus on the good instead of letting ourselves truly accept the
Finally, Kor expresses the importance of forgiveness. “Anger and hate are seeds that germinate war. Forgiveness is a seed for peace. It is the ultimate act of self-healing. I look at forgiveness as the summit of a very tall mountain” (Kor and Buccieri 133).
When responding to situations in life, people must consider if what they are doing will benefit themselves or the people around them. In circumstances that demand quick thinking, people often can not form a concrete decision based on how little information and time they are given. In life, people must frequently try to do so through their daily battles with the people around them, in addition to themselves. People's hardships often affect what will compel them to respond, in many areas of a person's environment they are tied to certain deprivations in life, either privately or through another person. With those ties, come the understanding and compassion, these setbacks can help others gain a better insight into another person's difficulties.
There are many times humans act differently because of someone else. The outlooks of human behaviors depend on the negative or positive influences that surround a person. People act the way they are because of the external forces that affect them. Likewise throughout history, many authors and poets create their work of literatures based on the external forces. Often times, the message that these authors and poets reveals not only has universal themes, but also can connect to people’s life stories.
From ethical and religious perspective, forgiveness is removal of sin and restoring to a state of moral integrity and right relationship. Healing includes healing of broken relationships in personal, communitarian, societal, cultural and religious aspects.
In the novel the Kite Runner Rahim Khan reminds Amir had kept a secret for long, he had
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee, 56) We are all guilty of judging others too quickly based on our own assumptions whether it is true or not. People are often judged unfairly because of their skin colour, how much money they make, what gender they are, and other things. Our judgements of others are solely based on stereotypes. In the novel Atonement by Ian McEwan, Briony Tallis is the protagonist who falsely makes the accusation that Robbie Turner is the rapist of Lola Quincey.
Everyone makes mistakes, commits sins or does some bad deeds. As time goes by, one is unable to live with all the guilt from these sins and mistakes. One regrets it, repents it and does all sorts of things to make it right. Ultimately one only looks for ways to forgive oneself and this requires the atonement of past sins. Atonement in real life refers to the actions of making amends for a wrong or an injury.
In the tragedy of Macbeth, there is much deception, murder, and sadness. It is very interesting how the story plays out with the many crimes Macbeth and his wife commit. They do get what they deserve, but not by the hand of a judge or a courtroom, and certainly not at the pace that they should have received their punishment.
In Act I, Macbeth and Banquo had just returned from their battles against the invading armies of Ireland and Norway.
According to Wilhelm Stekel, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Although one could disagree with the quote through the argument that by dying nobly for a cause, the cause would gain attention from others and strengthen, I believe that by living for a cause, one possesses the ability to contribute far more in their lifetime and spread the ideas of the cause more effectively with continued efforts.
Stekel’s interpretation of the distinction between the mature and the immature proves to be accurate when considering the nature of modern society. The primary differences between the mature and the immature include the intentions behind their actions, as well as the results of the actions. Based on the phrase, “live humbly,” Stekel insinuates that in mature individuals, the desire to help their cause acts as the motivation behind their behavior , regardless of recognition from others.
Robbie and Cecilia’s relationship is central to the novel Atonement. It is at first a slow burning one but it essentially becomes what the novel is centred around. Their interlude in the library is the moment they revisit consistently, Robbie whilst at war and Cecilia during her nursing. In the library the ‘words spoken aloud were like signatures on an unseen contract’.
