Life or Death: Everyday Survival Situations
People who are forced into a survival situation should not be held accountable for their actions. Many survivors do not willingly choose to be in the situations that they are put into. No person would want to suffer just to survive. In life or death situation essay some cases are discussed. There are multiple stories which shows what it takes to survive in a life or death situation including “ The Seventh Man”, a short story written by Haruki Murakami. This story shows why people should not have to take responsibility for something they could not have prevented. People are not able to prevent accidents, and will never be able to do so.
During desperate circumstances, everyone needs to make the best choices, however nobody truly knows how they are going to act when such a test comes their direction. Some people may say that for every action there is a consequence. But, during survival situations people are under a lot of pressure and not in the right state of mind to be making important decisions. Their choices may lead to a comrade or someone else getting injured, and possibly even death.
When it comes to survival, you have to prioritize your own safety over others. One could say that it is important to help others in need, but you would be putting your own life in jeopardy, and if you are dead you will not be able to help anyone. For example, when you fly on an airplane the flight attendants will inform you that in case of an emergency, you need to put an oxygen mask on yourself before anything else. Once you are stabilized, you can then safely help other people in need. This is to ensure your own safety.
Another example is in an article titled “ Lost In Amazon” written by Marie Cleland which tells the story of the guys who got lost in the Amazon Rainforest. Ghinsberg and his friend Kevin were having fun exploring the Amazon Rainforest. While they were on a raft downriver, the raft had gotten stuck on a rock splitting Kevin and Ghinsberg up. Fortunately, rescuers had gound Kevin and got him stabilized. He then joined the rescuers looking for Later, he was able to find him, and successfully save his life. This real-life example shows that you can still help others in need, but after you yourself are safe. You should not be punished for worrying about your own life.
People should not be held accountable in a life or death situation because people would not want to die, they would obviously want to live. So, they would do whatever they have to do to ensure their own safety. One great example is in a short story called “ The Seventh Man” written by Haruki Murakami. On page 138, Murakami states “ I found myself running the other way, running full speed towards the dyke, alone what made me do this, I am sure was fear, a fear so overpowering it took my voice away and set my legs running.” This statement shows that fear can cloud your judgement and make you do things you normally would not do. If the Seventh Man was not under pressure, then he may have been able to save K. But, it was also important for the Seventh Man to get himself to safety. If the Seventh Man had ran back to K trying to help him, he would have been putting his own life in jeopardy and the outcome may have been none of them making it out alive. Even though the Seventh Man was not able to save K, he was able to move away in time and save his own life.
If people started being held accountable for their actions during a survival situation, there may be some dishonesty. People could lie about what actually happened and over exaggerate the story of what happened to make it look like the situation was not their fault, even thought it was. This could cause a negative impact on an entire community and people would no longer trust each other and know the dangers of doing every-day activities.
There is danger in every little thing that we do, and people would stop enjoying fun activities in fear that they will have to face consequences. They will stop doing things such as hiking, camping, going on roller coasters, and many more fun activities. During a roller coaster, the ride could break down or even collapse all together. But, the chances are extremely low and people still enjoy going to amusement parks. This would mostly impact little kids because they would go from being adventurous to staying at home and being deprived from having a normal and fun childhood.
In June 2018, 12 members of a Thai soccer team and their coach decided to explore a cave. While they were explora flash flood came pushing them deep into a cave. They were trapped in the cave for a total of seventeen days. They also went without food for the first nineteen days. Luckily, divers were able to come and rescue the team but one diver died rescuing them. This incident shows that nature is unpredictable and that anything can happen at anytime. Some people can say that the kids wouldn’t have been in that situation if it wasn’t for the coach or also that the diver;s death was the coach’s fault. But, the coach was not at any fault because a natural disaster can happen at any time, and he just wanted to have a fun day of exploring with his team.
In conclusion of essays about life and death, during a survival situation a person should not be held accountable for any action they make. They are not in the right state of mind because they are under a lot of pressure and stressed out. So, they act on impulse and sometimes do not make the best decisions.
