The bitter irony is that the people who perhaps most need and deserve to forgive themselves cannot. The necessary reflection and acknowledgment can be very difficult, because some people are burdened by forms of self-deception. Self-deception makes it difficult to identify when self-forgiveness is appropriate.
This question is incomplete. Here's the complete question.
Read The Lady Or The Tiger?, by Frank Stockton
How did the king keep from feeling guilty about this form of justice? *
a. He did not watch the festivities.
b. He made his daughter in charge of signaling judgement
c. He said the criminals made their own choices, not him.
d. He was barbaric and just did not feel guilty.
Answer: c. He said the criminals made their own choices, not him.
Explanation:
The arena of the king was meant as a device of poetic justice, where a crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, depending on what was thought to be an impartial test. Given the chance to choose one out of two doors, the criminal would face either the punishment of a tiger´s attack or the reward of a woman to get married to. Whether they would be punished or rewarded was established based on their own choice, making the King feel like has no responsibility for the result.
