Back of The Book Criticism from The Sunflower

Last week I slightly brushed on the topic of the criticism and responses in the back of The Sunflower. I'll be honest though; I hadn't really read them. Now, after a week of mulling many of them over, I have to say that I am impressed. I am about to completely contradict myself, for last week I said that the Dalai Lama's response was wrong and in poor taste. Boy, was I wrong. The Dalai Lama's answer to the thought-provoking question of, "Would you forgive a dying Nazi?" is that one should forgive, but must NEVER forget. Throughout the entire time I was reading the novel, I never once thought of this as an answer. The responses in the back truly do offer good insight on the question. After reading the Dalai Lama's, I figured there HAD to be more solutions to this query. Thus, I went about thinking of answers, but none were very realistic. Simon could have put him out of his misery if he was truly vindictive. He could have struck a deal with him that if he forgave the dying man, the Nazi would put in an order to let him go. These resolutions though, are ludicrous. The Dalai Lama, a guide to many, has truly thought of the perfect answer. It combines being forgiving to someone who wants absolution before he dies with always paying tribute to those who lost their lives in the worst genocide in the history of the world. This is why, though, the Dalai Lama is refered to as "His Holiness" and I am simply known as Doug E Fresh. Maybe one day I will be able to come up with perfect solutions to challenging questions like the Dalai Lama can, but for now I can merely rap Will Smith.
I'm stuck on the Sunflower for now because I have decided to do TWO projects on it, but I am very excited to begin my third and final book, Ceremony. It is about a Native American who faced horrors in World War 2 and had to return to deal with life on the home front. I find that this is a perfect book to compare to the Sunflower, for one is about a soldier who becomes a prisoner, and one is about a Jew who also becomes a prisoner, but under different circumstances.