The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness: Robert McAfee Brown Summary & Analysis

In 1979, Brown attended a memorial to the Jews who lost their lives defending the Warsaw Ghetto. A friend of his made an address whose theme was clear: never forget, and never forgive. He agrees that never forget is perhaps the clearest lesson from the Holocaust, but is less certain about the second conviction.

Brown thinks of the images of children in the gas chambers or families packed into a house that is set on fire that appear in The Sunflower. He writes that if God forgives such deeds, that strains the idea that God’s universe is a moral one. And if God cannot forgive, then humans cannot forgive.

Brown contrasts these cases with cases in which forgiveness can make a difference and empower, such as the case of Nelson Mandela, who was jailed for twenty-seven years and then forgave his jailers. He sees this circumstance as building up moral capital and bringing compassion back to humanity.

In Simon’s shoes, Brown states that he would have told Karl to address his plea to God. After that, it is the responsibility of people as a whole to be just, to be kind, to walk with God, and to stand with the victims and the oppressed.