Should Uncle Clarence be forgiven?

Use this forum to discuss the September 2020 Book of the month, " "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.
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Adego 002
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Re: Should Uncle Clarence be forgiven?

Post by Adego 002 »

valeriejane wrote: 17 Nov 2020, 10:27 This was the part of the book, I disagreed with. I felt this was not handled or addressed properly. Attempted rape was minimized and swept under the rug. There were no consequences for Uncle Clarence's actions and he was depicted as poor Uncle Clarence. He is a grown man. What about Maureen?
I think attempted rape was not discussed in detail since the main thing being addressed was the effect of the discrimination uncle Clarence went through as a child.
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Post by Kira Bonita Reece »

I think he should be forgiven. He didn't intentionally become a bad person. He was made that way because of the trauma he endured as a child. I feel empathy toward him. I would have forgiven him
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Post by Nathaniel Owolabi »

I don't think it was unforgivable, however I do think it was inexcusable. The fact that he suffered trauma as a child does remove him from being responsible for his actions. I do agree with other comments that perhaps the author should have addressed this part of the book better.
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Post by Grace McHardy »

Personally, I felt like he should not have been forgiven so easily. Yes, he went through his fair share of traumatic events, but he was out of hand from the beginning straight to the end. What would have happened if Lena did not come into the room? He was most definitely going to rape Maureen and that is unforgivable. He would do it again too as he did not suffer any consequences for his actions. Nobody paid attention to how he treated her and always looked away when he did or said something inexcusable. Really did not like his character at all.
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Post by DyanaFl »

I do not think Clarence should be forgiven. Attempted rape can't be overlooked with the excuse of childhood trauma. Granted, he had it rough but that doesn't give him license to be a creep. He definitely needs help but I think the issue should have been addressed more instead of his parents coddling him again and Maureen acting like nothing ever happened.
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Post by Oyster »

What he went through as a child is bad. But if I were in Kalayla mum's shoes, I'd surely report him to the police.

His actions cannot be excused at all. Yes, what he went through might have made him scared or resentful to white people and guns, but how in earth did that make him a rapist?

Yes. He should be forgiven. But he also deserves to be in jail.
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Post by nina soledad »

Yes, Clarence should be forgiven. However, he should also be held accountable for what he did to Maureen. It is not right to excuse his actions just because he was also traumatized when he was a child. Likewise, if he is not given accountability for his actions, (attempted rape and unwanted advances), then he would most likely just repeat these since he will think that it is okay. His traumatic experience as a child should not be used as an excuse for what he did. Clarence should also seek professional help/undergo therapy in order for him to heal. Clarence's mother also needs to be enlightened about the situation of her son in order for her really help him. So yes, Clarence should be forgiven, but he should also make an effort to earn and deserve forgiveness.
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Post by Medhansh Bhardwaj »

Absolutely not. I understand that Clarence had gone through his share of suffering, but this was no excuse to impose pain on someone else. He was an adult, and he should have acted like one. A sexual harassment is a sexual harassment, whether it is from a traumatic person or a non-traumatic one.
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Post by Mukoan M »

Forgiven, No. Clarence should seek help to help him recover from the trauma however that does not excuse his behaviour. What he did is totally unacceptable and cannot be blamed on his condition, he was in his full state of mind and knew what he wanted to do as even a kid Kalayla could see his intentions.
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Post by Neshboy Aburi »

Of course no. The traumatic experience should not act as an excuse for the attempted rape incident. I think he was given too much leeway in this instance.
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Post by Ra Ka »

I don't think he should forgive Uncle Clarence for what he did because he knows what he's doing, no matter what trauma he had when he was little.
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Post by Nikhila Kulkarni »

What Clarence did and always intended to do gave me goosebumps. It was even horrible to find that such behavior and thinking was ignored by all of the family members. Yes the poor boy suffered a lot but that can also be used to make him a better person, to say the least. He should've faced the consequences. Maybe he did too, and since the story had an open end I would like to believe he did, some day.
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Post by J Edwards »

In my opinion, and considering his past traumatic experience, his actions should not be forgiven entirely. I think he got so used to be the crybaby of the family, he felt he was capable to get away with anything and everything. What if the sexual assault had actually happened? Would we sit pretty ad say oops! he was bullied as a child?
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Post by 19blueofficial »

I think what Clarence did was unforgivable. What if he had raped Maureen and Lena wasn't around? What would Maureen tell her daughter? That her uncle raped her? Besides, even when Jamal introduced Maureen to his family Clarence had an eye on Maureen. What he needs is help, but its too late now. They would have given him the he needed when he was still a little boy, not now that he's a liability.
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Post by Gabriella H »

valeriejane wrote: 17 Nov 2020, 10:27 This was the part of the book, I disagreed with. I felt this was not handled or addressed properly. Attempted rape was minimized and swept under the rug. There were no consequences for Uncle Clarence's actions and he was depicted as poor Uncle Clarence. He is a grown man. What about Maureen?
This is exactly how I felt! Yes, Uncle Clarence was traumatized, and that's a pity, but it still didn't give him the right to try to rape Maureen. I felt Maureen's quick forgiveness was a bit unrealistic. Maybe the author didn't really want to go into the topic of rape. I felt it would've been better to leave it out completely than to sweep it under the rug after introducing it into the book.
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