Pitty

If someone killed one of your family members then the killer turned sick, would you still give them pity? Even though this man took part in killing Jews I still think he deserves pity. "For he dropped the letter and groped for my arm. The movement was so pathetically helpless that all of a sudden I felt sorry for him." When a situation is sad, of course, it's human nature to feel sorrow towards those who suffer. Such as this man who is laying in a hospital bed, and having a hard time staying conscience. "I admit that I had some pity for the fellow." Even though this man took part in mass killings of Jews, he's being the bigger person and asking for forgivness; which I think deserves both forgivness and pity. So perhaps the sense of being lifeless and hopeless could serve as payback to all the heartache that he caused the Jews.

Forgiven or not?

Even though he took the time to tell his story to Simon I still don't think that I would be able to just show pity and forgive this man. "It never ceases to remind me of the burning house and the family that jumped from the window." If you could imagine this happening and knowing that you was apart of it, you deserve to go through pain. The man wants to try to make his life clean while he still can. Simon has a right to not feel completely sorry for the SS soldier, because he knows that he could be in the next set of Jews to get killed for no reason. "I cannot die...without coming clean." in this he just wants to make himself feel better. He acts like he cares about the Jews but it could just be an act to try to get forgiveness.