Forgiveness in Life

Forgiveness in Life

Forgiveness, tolerance, and family network are the traits that can be gained through time and experience. People constantly try to find opportunities to know more of and develop these qualities. An individual's situations, regardless of severity, can teach them to have more of this. In Le Ly Hayslip's "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places", the author Le Ly learned how to develop her tolerance and forgiveness in the horrors of war. In this story, she expressed her forgiveness and tolerance in harsh situations she went through.

In the first setting of the story, South Vietnamese soldiers restrained, kidnapped, and sent Le Ly to a nearby prison during an attack on her village. She was confined to a tiny prison after being interrogated and tortured. "The special gift of suffering, I have learned, is how to be strong while we are weak, how to be brave when we are afraid, how to be wise in the midst of confusion, and how to let go of that which we can no longer hold." Le Ly learned that the tolerance and forgiveness are the ways to heal the horrors from war and can lead to peace. It reminds us how to look ahead and get back to our lives when involved bad situation in the past.

In the second setting of the story, the death of Le Ly's father made a big change in her life. Her father remained at their home for ancestral shrine, while families were forced to leave the village, and later he committed suicide. "With my father gone and Ky La and the neighboring villages left in shambles by the war, there was nothing much any of us could do but take care of ourselves and each other" (Hayslip, 236). Her father's death brought her an inner peace and understanding about her purpose and her role in life: to have children and care for them as a mother, teaching them about their ancestors, the land, and peace. Her outlook shifted from feeling hopeless to feeling like a warrior. Her duty was to her son, to her family, and to preserving them for the future. It marked a turning point for Le Ly.

Lastly, in Le Ly entire life, she was abused, raped, and forced into prostitution by men. Her loving relationship with Anh became bitter when he abandoned her. Yet Le Ly was able to forgive those who abused and harmed her, believing that the war forced people to do horrible things. "Mot cau mhin, chin car lanh", a village saying in Buddhism,