Finished

"' That old man,' she said, "is he mad at you or something?'
'I hope not.'
'He looks mad.'
'No,' I said. 'All that's finished.'" (pg. 188)

This passage made me think of relationship between Japan and America. We are civil now. We don't fight with one another and we buy from them and the buy from us. I just don't understand how we ever got to this stage. The stage where the Vietnamese people are apparently with us too. "All that's finished." he said. How do people, after so much bloodshed and tears get to the place where they can see a person from the country that had burned down their villages and be civil and nice to them? I guess it comes down to being fed up with fighting and forgiveness. The forgiveness that sets one free and is able to move on with life and not dwell on the past. Although one should never forget.