TOW #4 - The Sunflower (IRB 1.1)

In his piece, The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal utilizes simile and motif to give his reader context for the question that he proposes. The first half of his book is made of an account of the events Wiesenthal went through during the Holocaust. He is a younger Jewish man being forced through intensive labor by the Nazis. One day, Wiesenthal is summoned by a dying Nazi soldier in a hospital room. The soldier breaks down and confesses to all of the horrible crimes he's regretfully committed during his time. He begs for the forgiveness of Wiesenthal - but Wiesenthal is overwhelmed and leaves the man without an answer.

Wiesenthal makes great use of simile, particularly to compare the Jews to animals. For example, when the Jews are led in a line along the streets, he explains that the people of the town "had become accustomed to the sight of tortured Jews and they looked at us as one looks at a herd of cattle being driven to the slaughterhouse" (13). In this case, the Jews are depicted as helpless beings being led to the deaths. Later, a young Jewish boy is spotted "collecting the crumbs which somebody had put out for the birds" (45). People look at the Jews as animals and the Jews must live like animals. Wiesenthal includes these inhumane comparisons to illustrate the harsh conditions of his people.

In addition, Simon Wiesenthal uses the sunflower as a motif. Hence the title of the book, sunflowers have awfully significant meaning to the narrator. He considers them a symbol of hope. However, he feels that he has no hope. Sunflowers are typically seen placed upon the graves of those lost - except the Jews whose bodies were thrust underground on top of each other. He questions the reason that "the murderer would own something even when he was dead," yet the living Wiesenthal received nothing. The sunflower is portrayed as something desired but seemingly impossible to obtain (to Simon).

His purpose in narrating up to this point is to give his audience - anyone interested in philosophy or ethics - as much of an idea as he can of his situation. Throughout the second half of his book, he will ask hundreds of different people what they would have done in his situation. His overall purpose of the entire text may very well change, but the first half was absolutely inserted for contextual reasons. By using devices such as simile and motif, the reader gains background information on the situation and from there can decide what they would do. Therefore, Wiesenthal would be considered successful in achieving his purpose.

Under what circumstances should we listen to the angel or the devil inside us? We may typically lean toward the angel, but what if the stakes are higher than imaginable? What if you were asked to forgive the man who killed your family? Or the man who beats you every single day? We do our best to be fair, but is there a point at which a line has been crossed and we must forget our morals?