Olivia Alexander
Mrs. Rutan
A.P. Literature
18 January 2017
Mrs. Rutan
A.P. Literature
18 January 2017
Can You Really Forgive and Forget?
“Forgive and forget." Children have had this phrase embedded into their brains since they were able to comprehend words. This idea teaches kids to forgive those who hurt us and quickly forget about the pain. As humans, we were given instincts such as sensing danger and memory to protect ourselves. Having these instincts forces us to always remember the people, actions, or things that have hurt us in our past experiences and enables us to better protect ourselves for the future. In the play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen argues that all mistakes can be covered up by bandages, but will always leave scars. The readers are introduced to the idea when learning about Nora forging her father’s signature and later are fully convinced when they witness Torvald’s reaction to the revealing letter. This drastic series of events shows readers that perhaps they truly cannot always forgive and forget.
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Childlike or hiding? More times than not readers will accuse Nora, the main character, of being too immature and light hearted. Even though this theory could be true and have numerous pieces of evidence to support it, it simply is not. Nora, the loving wife that she is, borrowed money from a despicable man named Krogstad so she would be able to take her ill husband on a holiday in hopes of gaining his health back. To borrow the money she must have a signature of her husband’s consent (Ibsen, 1101), who was completely against the idea of spending so much money. The only other option was her father, who was also lying on his deathbed. Nora was in a sticky situation and committed the crime of forging her father’s signature to borrow the money in hopes of saving her husband. The trip was over and Torvald had become healthy once again, however she knew that she mustn't ever tell her husband, because if he were to find out it could very well ruin the “Helmer” name. Over the course of several years, Nora attempted to cover up her huge mistake with bandage after bandage and bill after bill. No matter, the truth had to come out. Nearing the final curtain of the play, Torvald receives a letter stating the situation Nora has placed herself into. Nora simply allowed Torvald to read this letter because she knew that her secret was going to force its way out one way or another. She knew that after all her bandages, that scar was still going to bleed through and neither of them would be able to forget.
Forget too soon? Although Nora was quite the expert at covering up her mistakes, Torvald was not. When receiving that letter Torvald grew furious. He was ashamed and only thought about how it affected himself, his life, his career, and his name. Nora was no longer Torvald’s “little songbird” but now a horrible “wretch” (Ibsen, 1145). Soon the winds shifted and Nora told him the news of retrieving the contract that read the forged signature. Torvald was absolutely delighted and Nora was once again his “squirrel” (Ibsen, 1094). It was so easy for Torvald to forget about the scar that was just bestowed upon him and completely move on loving Nora as much as once before. Nora knew what she did could never be forgotten but Torvald was too naive, like a young school boy being told to “forgive and forget.” He wasn’t aware that by forgetting completely and not learning from the mistake, he was doomed to encounter a similar horrid situation in the future.
Ibsen creates a story of love gone wrong, but that was never its true purpose. He wanted to show readers to never be naive, yet trust your instincts. Many women have scars from being suppressed, physically, mentally, or even emotionally. Most choose to cover them with bandages, but if we all learn to flaunt our scars instead of hide them, that person (even if it is ourselves) will think twice about giving you another one. So to “forgive and forget” isn’t all that great. One day if you choose to do so, it could come back to bite.
Ibsen creates a story of love gone wrong, but that was never its true purpose. He wanted to show readers to never be naive, yet trust your instincts. Many women have scars from being suppressed, physically, mentally, or even emotionally. Most choose to cover them with bandages, but if we all learn to flaunt our scars instead of hide them, that person (even if it is ourselves) will think twice about giving you another one. So to “forgive and forget” isn’t all that great. One day if you choose to do so, it could come back to bite.
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