A Selfish Nature Of Survival
If one was in a life or death situation would they really think or worry about other people? Survival is not always selfish but it is mostly being selfish because you are more or likely to always think of yourself when in danger. Survival can not be selfish sometimes because one will want to think that they would save someone in a life or death situation but, more likely they will not. Which means that they would be selfish for not saving someone else's life. In order to stay alive or survive one needs to be selfish and think for themself and act out and do something in a situation of life or death. Many people don’t care about other people very much to save their lives in different situations.
There are many ways where one can be selfish in a life or death situation. In the story “The Night” the selection was going on and the prisoners are told not to do certain things. When Elie passed the selection he said right after that no one mattered after that. In the text it says,” At that moment, the others did not matter. ” This shows that he didn’t care about all the other people at the camp. In the story “Who Understands Me But Me” Jimmy the narrator is trying to find himself after all the troubles that life was giving him. He was pushed to his limits and did not think about others when he was trying to find himself which therefore, makes him selfish. In the text it says, “I followed these signs like an old tracker and followed the tracks deep into myself, followed the blood-spotted path. ” This shows that he is trying to find himself and all the struggles that he has gone through and also how he does not care for other people. Therefore, pain is a big thing in survival just like in the next story.
One has to be selfish if one wants to survive though all the pain that life, someone or something reflects. In the poem “The Survivor” the girl was told and put to limits that life is holding on her. In the text it says,”The survivor is not the strongest or most clever. ” This shows that it is hard enough just to think for yourself and each person goes through there own thing which makes it selfish because no one real ever worried about one another. Like in the poem “Who Understands Me But Me” he is also told and put to his limits that life has put for him. He is told not to do certain things. In the text it says,” They turn the water off, so I live without water, they build walls higher, so I live without treetops, they paint the windows black, so I live without sunshine. ” This shows that life was holding him back just like the girl and they didn’t think for others in there situations. Therefore, survival is selfish but some think not for other reasons. Some say that survival is not selfish because not always one has to think for themselves and help out other people. In the poem “Who Understands Me But Me” the guy talks about how he finds himself and laughs with people and care for them which makes him not selfish.
In the text it says,” We laughed like children and made pacts to always be loyal, who understand me when I say this is beautiful?” This shows that the guy was thinking of others after all the things he was thinking for himself. However, this should not be considered because one has to always think for themselves and it would be hard to not think of yourself in a life or death situation. Like in “Who Understands Me But Me” he started to think more for himself,”Who understands me when I say this is beautiful? Who understands me when I say I have found other freedoms?” This is the guy thinking for himself which makes him selfish for survival. Therefore, that is why you have to be selfish to survive. To conclude, after looking at this issue from both sides survival is thinking for yourself and being selfish because one has to think before doing, and it's usually that you would think about yourself first.
