Is Redemption Possible Without Forgiveness from Others?

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Is Redemption Possible Without Forgiveness from Others? Redemption on a secular level comes from within. Forgiveness comes when others recognize one’s mistakes, accept, and correct them. Redemption however, comes from one forgiving themselves on a deeper level. Self-acceptance and redemption are harder to achieve than forgiveness from others. When one feels redeemed, it means that they can be fully forgiven. Pip from Great Expectations is a great example of self-forgiveness and redemption because even after his family forgave him for the wrongs he committed, he still felt uneasy about himself until he cured himself of the disease he had: egocentricity. Richard Rodriguez’s character from his autobiography Hunger of Memory (however?), has not displayed his self-realization because he is not aware that he has harmed people from his actions and because of that he has not matured. Pip has been more successfully redeemed at the end of his story than Richard Rodriguez because Pip has recognized his selfish mistakes in his private life, and because of this recognition, he has grown.

One’s selfish actions can lead to the destruction of important relationships and regret for one’s past desires. During Richard’s younger years, he had always felt close to his family, speaking the same language, and sharing commonalities. As he grew older he distanced himself from his family because he wanted to feel like an outsider. Richard states, “Intimacy is not trapped within words. It passes through words. It passes. The truth is that intimates leave the room. Doors close. Faces move away from the window. Time passes. Voices recede into the dark. Death finally quiets the voice. And there is no way to deny it” (40). In this passage Richard states that ...

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... to him. Once Pip returned home to repay Joe and Biddy for their reliability, he made a difference in their lives and his own. After Pip had a near-death experience, he reexamined the valuable relationships in his life and admitted his mistakes. Richard has not been successfully redeemed in his private life because he honestly does not care about his family. Richard has clearly explained that he only cares about his public life because he has no intimacy with his family. Private lives are more important than public lives personal relationships are the ones that that truly count. If one compares being successful and being happy, happiness is more important than success. Pip is happy because he has fixed his life by realizing his own missteps. Richard is very clearly successful; however, he not satisfied with the way he got there. He is successful, but he is not happy

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