Consider the following comments on forgiveness.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
Lewis B. Smedes
Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.
Paul Boese
Some things are unforgivable, and to forgive them is to betray the people they were done to.
We forgive others not because they deserve it but because we are tired of carrying the weight.
Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
Mark Twain
Write a reflective piece in response to one or more of these comments. Your essay will be assessed on the quality of your thinking and the way you express it.
A way into this prompt
Reflect on whether forgiveness is primarily a gift to the wrongdoer or a release for the one who was wronged. You might open with a personal or observed instance where letting go felt less like absolution and more like self-preservation. Develop a tension between forgiveness as healing and the fear that it lets injustice off the hook. A third movement could distinguish forgiving from forgetting or reconciling. Caution: keep the reflection honest rather than tidy, since pretending forgiveness is always possible or always noble rings false.