Literary Theory

They say that the most difficult thing to do in life is to forgive another person for a transgression they have committed against you and your family . Even the Bible makes mention on forgiveness in the famous line when Jesus told the Apostle Peter that he was to forgive not just 7 times but 70 times 7 times . While this may not seem like a lot of instances , it is difficult to even truly forgive just one offense . The book entitled On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness ' by Jacques Derrida makes a very interesting point

on forgiveness when he mentions that Forgiveness is not , it should not be , normal , normative , normalising It should remain exceptional and extraordinary , in the face of the impossible : as if it interrupted the ordinary course of historical temporality

To err is human , and to forgive is divine . This phrase is oft heard yet seldom thought about . The difficulty with forgiveness is that it is also often associated with forgetting . When on has forgiven , it is time to move on . Nobody who has not forgotten has ever truly forgiven because the pain still remains . The offense , the transgression may not have a fresh imprint on one 's soul but it still leaves a scar . What Jacques Derrida means when he gives that line is that true forgiveness contemplates a healing . What was once broken is now compete . To forgive is not normal and it is never easy . Forgiveness is forgetting what happened , an interruption in the ordinary course of historical temporality ' that erases the offensive moment and allows the forgiver to move on

It has often been said that one has forgiven but just as easily the forgiveness that was granted is quickly forgotten in the face of a new offense by the same person . True forgiveness means being able to forget and move on and when that person offends again it is a new act that will be forgiven if possible . It is not forgiveness to just say that one is forgiven . It demands extraordinary actions and sacrifices , to move , to forget , to live again

Jacques Derrida`s `On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness` Page PAGE 1 of NUMPAGES 1...