Forgiveness is the mental, emotional and spiritual process of bringing to an end feeling of resentment or anger against another person for a perceived offence. It is also a way of accepting past action and using it as a mechanism to move on. Christians believe that all Christians should seek forgiveness and that all should forgive. They believe that if a Christian does not forgive someone then God will not forgive that person, whereas if they forgive then God will forgive them, as written in the bible – Mat 6:15 ‘But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.’
The story is based around the characters Stacy Slater, Jean Slater (her mother), and Sean Slater (her brother). Jean Slater suffers from a mental disorder called Bipolar, which both Sean and Stacy suffered the consequence of in their childhood. Due to this Sean ran away from home and decided to join the army, whereas Stacy stayed at home and managed to keep her mother calm after the tragic death of her father. Jean Slater‘s condition affected her children greatly. Many of the times her anger and depression was frequently aimed towards the children. Both Stacy and Sean had different approaches in dealing with their mother’s reactions as they grew older. Stacy continued to support their mother and forgave her even when her mother attempted suicide, leaving Stacy to recover under the care of her uncle. On the other hand, Sean returned home. Despites Stacy’s efforts Sean refused to meet their mother. Sean still continues to feel resentful towards his mother, whereas Stacy was able to forgive her mother and move on.
In relation to the given story, Stacy has shown the ability to forgive, in relation to her mother, whereas Sean needs to undergo that process and accept their mother’s actions of abuse and no longer feel resentment towards her.
In Eastenders the issue of forgiveness has been dealt with in two ways in this situation. It shows Jean shouting to Stacy ‘You are the pain of my very existence’. This remark would not be taken by many people with a pinch of salt. People would usually argue back. This is an unforgivable thing for a mother to say, as a mother’s love is said to be unconditional. Yet Stacy forgives her mother, even though the situation is tough, and understands their mother does not mean it. She also relaises that the only way for their broken relationship to heal is for her to forgive, as written in the Bible Eph 4:31 ‘Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feeling of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender hearted to one another, and forgive the other, as God has forgiven you through Christ.’
On the other hand Sean refuses to forgive their mother. At the beginning he refused to meet her, and when he does, he does not welcome her, and feels much hatred towards her. He proves this by saying, ‘You don’t know me, you don’t know nothing about me, you never have.’ This goes against Christian teachings, but it proves to us that not all humans are able to follow the teachings of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. It shows how years of mental, verbal, and physical abuse, are not acceptable to many people and cannot be forgiven easily. As Sean tells Jean (his mother), ’You’re the reason I left, I left because of you’. Using Sean as an example, of him not being able to forgive their mother, we see how human nature and feelings can overcome biblical teachings.
Through forgiveness, Stacy has in some ways has become closer to her, enabling her to tell her mother that she had had an abortion, after having kept it from her. Stacy and her mother are rebuilding and nourishing their broken relationship. Most Christians would approve of Stacy’s approach of rebuilding the bond with their mother. By forgiving their mother for her past sins, Stacy has enabled herself to allow her relationship with her mother to flourish.
Many Christians would say that Sean’s reaction is incorrect according to Christian teachings, as he should learn to forgive, especially his mother, as it is said written in the Bible when it says Exodus – Ten Commandments ‘Honour thy father and thy mother.’ Christians would denounce his actions to refuse to even try to forgive his mother. On the other hand, Liberal Christians would feel sympathetic and say after years of abuse that some actions are unforgivable due to circumstances. Even though Sean was not able to forgive his mother, he still broke down into tears after seeing her, which shows that there is still love present in that relationship and that the experience of meeting his mother after several years was an emotionally painful experience for him. This may lead him to feel uncomfortable in seeing her anymore.
To conclude, I feel that Eastenders has represented the issue of forgiveness very well as shown by two different examples, which contrast with each other. It has shown in Stacy’s case, if the teachings of God are followed, the relationship with the forgiven person will flourish and both Stacy and her mother are able to move on. Whereas Sean, who is not able to forgive his mother, still finds it emotionally painful to talk or even see eye to eye with his mother, which leads him not to forgive her. I feel that Sean not forgiving his mother has held him back and has made him a very temperamental person. Seeing both sides of forgiveness allows the viewer to make up his or her mind as to whether Jean truly deserves their forgiveness. It also makes them ponder upon whether, by forgiving someone, a person is able to move on in their life. In this way, we can see how both sides of a major religious issue in Christianity, forgiveness, is dealt with in a television soap opera.
