Forgive and Forget

Throughout the course of my life I have made quite a few mistakes. Some bigger than others and a couple that I won't ever forget. Mistakes are inevitable. It is how we deal with the mistakes we make throughout our lives that makes us who we are. Ono, the main character in Ishiguru's novel "An Artists of the Floating World", is no different then anybody else. Over the course of his life he has made mistakes that have stayed with him for many years.

I believe that the hardest part of mistakes is owning up to them. Yes one can try to just push them aside and forget what happened but there will always be that memory, no matter how small it may be, in the back of your head. Forgetting the past and the past mistakes is quite dangerous. Ono for some time tries to forget the things that he has done, and only when he drinks do those memories followed by an occasional outburts of words come out. At his daughter's engagement party this is exactly what happens. He had a few too many drinks and is rambling on about his past mistakes which was a very inappropriate time to do so. To forget the past mitakes one has made is no attempt to better a life.

Forgiveness we are told throughout our lives is the key to a happy life. If one has the inability to forgive anything I feel that he/she would lead a very angry and quite possibly depressed life. Many times it seems almost impossible to forgive some one else for what they have done, but even harder at times is forgiving your own self for the pain you have caused others. I think that towards the end of the books Ono starts to see what he has done over the years and is beginning to be able to forgive himself.

I feel that if Ono was unable to forgive himself for his past mistakes he would start to punish himself for what he had done. I think that using punishment as a form to deal with past mistakes is the least effective way to go about things. Punishing some one else or yourself for a mistake made in the past is the least beneficial way of doing it. The exact opposite of forgiveness. I think if a person punishes themselves for what the have done it will lead to an angry life and also a depressed one. People have to learn from their mistakes by admitting to them, and dealing with them.

The best way of dealing with past mistakes I feel is to reconcile through open acknowledgment. Although this is often the hardest thing to do it is the best thing. To open up to people and let them know what you have done to hurt them, or yourself. People will give you a great amount of respect for having the courage and the decency to admit what you have done is wrong and that you are ready to face whatever may come. Ono does this when he says "As far as I am concerned, I freely admit I made many mistakes. I accept that much of what I did was ultimately harmful to our nation, that mine was part of an influence that resulted in untold suffering for our own people"(p.123). Ono I feel has forgiven himself and is now looking forward to the future. Sitting and watching the young people having a good time brings a smile to his face and shows him that in time everything will work out.

On this long and windy road of life there are partholes every where. Some we can avoid and others we have to take head on. The solution is not to try to avoid all of them, but to patch them up after you have gone over them. Forgive, forget, or admit the mistakes one has made I feel is the key to a joyful life.