ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on three positions, from malignant to benign, located on the respective axes of object and subject in the context of forgiveness: the most malignant position on the axis of the object is the position of evil or indifference toward evil, paralleled, on the axis of the subject, by a position of vengefulness. The second position on the axis of the object is the position of guilt/atonement, which is paralleled, on the axis of the subject, by the position of amnesty. The third position on the axis of the object is the position of regret, which has its parallel on the subject axis in the position of forgiveness. Though presented as three clearly demarcated positions, they are present, with fluctuating dominance, in any encounter, whether concrete or imagined, between subject and object, especially in the context of trauma. These three positions are illustrated by means of a close reading of three literary memoirs.
