The Sunflower

Simon Wiesenthal is the first-person narrator of the story at the beginning of The Sunflower, and the man who requests his readers to ask themselves, “What would I have done?” (98).

Educated as an architect, Simon has experienced anti-Semitism in Polish society even before the Nazis occupied the country. Now, as a concentration camp prisoner, treated as vermin to be eradicated, he wonders whether all human beings are of the same order. His descriptions of fellow prisoners, of Polish people outside the concentration camp, and of German soldiers indicate that he is always observing them for individual characteristics, seeking to discern the friendly individuals from the unfriendly. As readers, we get the sense that Simon refuses to view any group of people with a general judgment but rather seeks the humanity in everyone.

Within the story portion of The Sunflower, the prisoner Simon is a listener and an observer. He not only listens to the story of the dying Nazi but is also an observer of his surroundings. He reads the faces of the people around him, listens for news of the outside world, and asks the opinions of his fellow prisoners. After refusing to express forgiveness to Karl, Simon asks his closest friends what they each would have done in his situation.