But in no one face—not even among the women, of whom there were many there—could he [Fagin] read the faintest sympathy with himself, or any feeling but one of all-absorbing interest that he should be condemned. [...]
He looked up into the gallery again. Some of the people were eating, and some fanning themselves with handkerchiefs; for the crowded place was very hot.[...]
At length there was a cry of silence, and a breathless look from all towards the door. The jury returned, and passed him close. He could glean nothing from their faces; they might as well have been of stone. Perfect stillness ensued—not a rustle—not a breath—Guilty. [...] It was a peal of joy from the populace outside, greeting the news that he would die on Monday.
[...] here was nobody there to speak to him; but, as he passed, the prisoners fell back to render him more visible to the people who were clinging to the bars: and they assailed him with opprobrious names, and screeched and hissed. He shook his fist, and would have spat upon them; but his conductors hurried him on, through a gloomy passage lighted by a few dim lamps, into the interior of the prison.
As it came on very dark, he began to think of all the men he had known who had died upon the scaffold; some of them through his means. They rose up, in such quick succession, that he could hardly count them. He had seen some of them die,—and had joked too, because they died with prayers upon their lips.
[2 days later...]
The jailer took the disengaged hand of Oliver; and, whispering him not to be alarmed, looked on without speaking. [...] ‘Take him away to bed!’ cried Fagin. ’Do you hear me, some of you? He has been the—the—somehow the cause of all this.
‘Oliver,’ cried Fagin, beckoning to him. ’Here, here! Let me whisper to you.’
‘I am not afraid,’ said Oliver in a low voice, as he relinquished Mr. Brownlow’s hand.
‘The papers,’ said Fagin, drawing Oliver towards him, ’are in a canvas bag, in a hole a little way up the chimney in the top front-room. I want to talk to you, my dear. I want to talk to you.’
‘Yes, yes,’ returned Oliver. ’Let me say a prayer. Do! Let me say one prayer. Say only one, upon your knees, with me, and we will talk till morning.’
Thanksgiving day is close for you Americans. I feel a loss that we don’t have such a holiday in Spain, a special evil in a country that has even a San Queremos (Saint We-Want 
) Fiesta. I’ve heard in Russian they have a day to ask and give forgiveness. That’s another one we sorely miss. Because unless you live in Perfect Town, Utopia it is likely that you are going to do unethical things.
Yep, that’s hard to accept. We all make mistakes and that’s hard enough to accept. But harder is to accept that we all do evil things from time to time. Maybe not as bad as Fagin; I’m not excusing the criminal by saying that we are all the same. But, just let’s face it, we are not just as perfect as we think we are.
So we all need that neat thing called forgiveness. I’m speaking from the social and individual point of view here, not the religious. (I have a separate blog for that). Yet to ask forgiveness and to grant it, is equally hard to do.
So what about forgiveness?
- First of all, it is free. You can’t deserve or buy forgiveness. This is not Calvinism nor Christian doctrine. It is simply the very being of forgiveness. You break it, you fix it, and nobody has a right to demand anything else from you; but neither you can demand that privilege of them.
- Second, it is love. The person who forgives has decided not to curse you with her hate nor contempt. It does not guarantee, friendship, though, which takes us to:
- Third, it is not reconciliation. If you forgive somebody it does not mean that your relationship has to be restored. Maybe it just cannot. When there is violence, when anger and lies have prevailed for a long time or, simply, when the harm is too severe; reconciliation can be impossible and even not prudent. Let me say it again, you are not guilty of anything if you choose not to restore a relationship; you are not required to take any more chances with your life. Inversely, if you are the guilty party, please do not feel like the only mean of your life is to restore that relationship. Learn and move on. Life is always wider than you think.
- Fourth, it does not require that the guilty party asks for forgiveness. (Reconciliation does require it, though). You can choose to forgive, to abandon your anger, hate and fears and move on.
Fagin did not offered even a faint “Sorry” to Oliver. In fact he places the blame of his situation on the poor boy. And yet, this young boy - who has every reason to hate him- shines by offering him a prayer. Naive or not, he wants to save Fagin from hell; what else could Oliver be thinking on? Did Fagin deserve that forgiveness? No way. Yet it is here.
I doubt had Fagin be assigned another sentence Fagin and Oliver could have became friends. Most probably that’s the last thing the boy would have wanted. Except, and even that it is unsure, to become again a guest at the Workhouse run by those great philosophers who considered starving a child the epitome of human education. You see, reconciliation was impossible, in this case. Yet the forgiveness was quite real.
Last, why does Oliver forgive? No idea; that’s the mystery of love. But I wonder that if in that ruffian, the orphan could not see the one he was supposed to become, had he not found the kindness of a turnpike man, an old widow and a despised prostitute, who never saw the fruit of their actions.
Have you been kind today? Maybe you have saved a life or two.
Tags: dickens, forgiveness, kindness, oliver twist, wisdom
You make me miss in depth reading. I just love how you draw from Oliver Twist.
Forgiveness is a huge word. Many of us have no control of certain things in our life due to money, but it is true that forgiveness is free. I cannot say enough about two, three and four. I feel better when I have forgiven.
Dylan had a small incident at school yesterday where he had to forgive someone. He actually commented on this when I picked him up from school. The little boy told him that he didn’t care if he forgave him…Dylan did not take this the wrong way. He said he was going to go to school today and be nice to him. He was never going to bring it up again. Youth moves on so much faster than us adults. (ha)
Yes, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time in America. Fall sets the stage, school lets out, people have family time. Reflections and thankfulness. Then most set up the Christmas tree the day after the huge Thanksgiving dinner. Barely moving and miserable…we decorate the tree with decorations. One by one.
This is a wonderful post that I really needed to hear as we head into the holiday season. Thank you Miguel de Luis.
Tammy Warren´s last blog post..Let someone else pick up the slack
Thanks you Tammy, and thanks for giving Christ to your child.