Help Please: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Literature

13 years ago

Hello everyone. I lurk here every so often although I'm mostly found over at the Kitchen Table with forays into Kitchens and Home Decorating. I have been a reader all my life--have a Ph.D. in American literature--but I'm seeking your input on a matter I've just begun to consider. I've been asked to give a series of talks at a church (Newman Center at a university) next Lent on the topic of "Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Literature." They'd like me to select several works of literature--novels, poetry, short stories--that illustrate this theme. The theme doesn't necessarily have to be developed in a religious/spiritual context. Just wondering what you'd recommend. Thanks!

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Comments (17)

veer
13 years ago
marita, an interesting subject. I'm sure there must be several Victorian novels that would fit your bill . . . husbands forgiving errant wives (though seldom the other way round) or something along the lines of the 'Prodigal Son', or perhaps Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan? I know it's a play but . . .?
I'll put my thinking cap on.
grelobe
13 years ago
I think a few novels by Graham Greene might fit your quest
"The Heart of the Matter" "A Bourn Out Case" "The Power and the Glory"

and by Fyodor Dostoevsky "Crime and Punisment"
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dido1
13 years ago
Shakespeare's A WINTER'S TALE, which is all about that.
veer
13 years ago
How about George Moore's Esther Waters? Poor kitchen maid seduced by the footman(?) thrown out of her 'place'. By the end of the story she and her former mistress 're-bond' (in a servant/employer way). All is forgiven.
yoyobon_gw
13 years ago
A TRAVEL WITH POMMEGRANATES by Sue Monk Kidd

memoir of mother-daughter travels resolving issues
J C
13 years ago
Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos is a beautiful story about a man whose life is torn about by violence but perseveres through faith and strength. Hijuelos is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, and he manages this story, with parallels to A Christmas Carol, without cloying sentimentality. Only about 250 pages, very quick to read. I read this years ago and it has always stayed with me.
Rudebekia
Original Author
13 years ago
Great suggestions! Thanks--this is very helpful. siobhan, when I was asked to give these talks Mr. Ives' Christmas came immediately to mind. It is a fabulous book; if anyone here has not read it, I recommend it. Well written and poignant. Please keep the suggestions coming!
woodnymph2_gw
13 years ago
"Too Late the Phalarope" by Alan Paton, set in South Africa of Apartheid, about Black/White relations.
Chris_in_the_Valley
13 years ago
How about Flannery O'Connor's entire oeuvre?
Rudebekia
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes, O'Connor's "Revelation," A Good Man is Hard to Find," and Wise Blood would especially work, though most of her stories end on an ambiguous--rather than conciliatory--note ("The Enduring Chill," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," "The Comforts of Home," etc.) I also thought of Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, and Dubus' Voices from the Moon.
ccrdmrbks
13 years ago
Well, there is Trollope's Can You Forgive Her?
yoyobon_gw
13 years ago
TRAVELING WITH POMEGRANATES
Chris_in_the_Valley
13 years ago
Would the Book of Job qualify?
woodnymph2_gw
13 years ago
"The Fall of a Sparrow" by Robert Hellenga.
Chris_in_the_Valley
13 years ago
What about The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell? Forgiveness and Reconciliation with a Jesuital twist - forgiving oneself and reconciling with same.
thyrkas
13 years ago
Marilynne Robinson's Pulitzer Prize winning book, 'Gilead' is a stunning book on forgiveness and reconciliation, IMO. 'Home', Robinson's book which picks up the story line of 'Gilead' from another perspective, also has these themes. Both of these books were written in the last ten years.
pfmastin
13 years ago
I would suggest The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon

Help Please: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Literature

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Help Please: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Literature

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