Essay Workshop 3

Myra Alvarez

English 100

11/10/10

Rough Draft

 The Value of Forgiveness

            To forgive someone who has hurt you not only physically but emotionally, can be hard. Some say it’s easier said then done, but you may also ask yourself, would you forgive someone who put you through torture? Could you find the strength to go up to that person without yelling at them?

            Hearing the word forgiveness reminds me of the young boy named Victor from the movie “Smoked Signals.” Victor was an Indian boy who lived on the reservation with his tribe. Victor’s father Arnold had a bad habit of drinking, he was an alcoholic, while under the influence, Arnold seemed to build anger remembering his past, out of anger, Arnold would hit his wife and Victor. Arnold soon started to realize that he wasn’t only hurting himself but he was hurting the ones that loved him the most.  He decide to one day get the nerve to get up and leave his family.

            Growing up without a father figure in Victor’s life wasn’t an essay obstacle. He had to learn how to be a man by himself. Victor became this young boy who had a lot of anger inside of him. When you see him, you could tell that he kept all his  feelings to himself, he acted as if he had no one to talk to. Thomas was his tribal childhood friend. Thomas was this young boy who had a creative imagination, he loved to tell stories, especially to Victor about his father Arnold. Thomas would tell Victor stories about Arnold to make him remember all the nice things Arnold once did. Victor just couldn’t believe his father was ever nice, the only memories he carried were the ones where Arnold would be hitting him.

            Victor felt that his father no longer cared for him, soon he got the call that they found his father dead in his trailer. Victor knew that he had to go pick up his father ashes but couldn’t finically go, except the fact that Tomas offered to pay only if he could go. Victor wasn’t to fond of the idea, but soon agreed that he could go. As they arrived, his dad’s neighbor Suzy, let Victor go in the trailer where they had found his father. Victor found Arnold's wallet with a family picture of them. As he turned the picture he saw the words Family. Victor couldn’t seem to understand how someone who abandoned him at a young age, could still carry a picture of his family. He soon started to realize that his father never forgot about him or his family. Suzy made it clear to Victor that all his father talked about was going home.

            Although Victor didn’t believe in forgiving, he soon learned that forgiving was the first step towards finding happiness in his heart. We all sometime in our life have to forgive someone who has hurt us, it isn’t easy and I don’t believe it was meant to be easy either. My mother once told me in order to find happiness within yourself, you have to first learn how to forgive others who have done you wrong, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to forget the torture you went through, but you need to learn to forgive in order to live in peace not only with yourself but within your heart.