Jesus Hernandez Ms. Lehmann English 1-1A 13 December 2018 Survival Is Not Selfish Do you think survival is selfish? People have debated about this very question for years. This essay will argue that survival is not selfish, as is proven by authors Louise Erdrich, Laurence Gonzales, and Lane Wallace. The first author who shows survival is not selfish is Louise Erdrich. Erdrich's short story “The Leap” provides many examples of situations where survival does not require people to be selfish. The narrator explains that her mother was part of a blindfolded trapeze act; on a stormy day, their tent was struck by lightning in the middle of a show. Her husband fell and died, but the narrator’s mother saved her baby and herself. Later, Erdrich writes, “My mother once said that I'd be amazed at how many things a person can do within the act of falling” (Erdrich 342). This proves that the mother had time to think, and she chose to save her baby instead of falling with her husband. By thinking of her child first, she also saved herself. Later in the story, Erdrich gives us another situation like this one. Erdrich talks about the same mother going into a burning building to save her daughter. The narrator explains, “I didn’t see her leap through the air, only heard the sudden thump and looked out my window. She was hanging by the backs of her heels from the new gutter” (Erdrich 345-346). This decision saved both of them; Erdrich proves that survival is not selfish by telling us about this mother and her decision to save her daughter. Both of these scenarios prove that people don’t have to be selfish to survive. Laurence Gonzales provides even more evidence. The essay “Deep Survival” by Gonzales, also proves that survival is not selfish. Gonzales describes a group of pilots who survived by sticking together. Kearns, a survival guide leading the pilots, says “All at once, it hit me that I might actually lose them. Those million- dollar pilots could die” (Gonzales 331). Kearns’ fear that the pilots might die gave him the strength to save the others and survive himself. Gonzales gives another example of a scenario in which someone survived because they were not selfish. He talks about a man who survived the World Trade Center attacks because he wanted to see his kids again. While the building was on fire, Di Fancesco tried to go back up to find fresh air, but “after ten or so floors, he encountered people were succumbing to fatigue and smoke. The people, all of whom would die, were just giving up and falling asleep. DiFrancesco, too, was collapsing, but then he said to himself, “‘I’ve got to see my wife and kids again”’(Gonzales 332). Thinking of others rather than just focusing on himself gave DiFranceco the strength he needed to go back down the stairs and escape with his life. In this case, he only survived because he put his wife and kids before himself. Lane Wallace gives more examples of survivors who lived because they were not selfish. Survival is also proven not to be selfish in “Is Survival Selfish” by Lane Wallace. Wallace argues that people aren’t selfish in survival in survival situations; they simply follow their instinct. Wallace explains “Some people hold it together in a crisis and some people fall apart. Some people might run away from danger one day, and toward the next” (Wallace 320). Wallace makes the point that people respond in different ways to survival situation. He makes it clear that survival is simply a matter of instinct, rather than any kind of intentional decision to be selfish or brave. Being selfish requires intention; if survival is instinct, there is no intention and therefore it cannot be selfish. Wallace also points out that those who save others don’t do so out of a sense of benevolence. Wallace explains that, “Oddly enough, most of the people who perform such impulsive rescues say that they didn’t really think before acting. Which means they weren’t ‘choosing’ civilization” (Wallace 320). Wallace is argues that people who are described as being brave or benevolent aren’t actually exhibiting those character traits at all; they are simply acting. If saving someone isn’t brave, how can survival be selfish? Some argue that survival is selfish because people have time to think before they act, and those who survive think of themselves. People may have time to think in survival situations, but many people do not think of themselves first. In fact, the people with the highest rates of survival are thinking of others. Gonzales writes, “Doctors and nurses often survive better than others because they have someone to help” (Gonzales 332). By thinking of the person they are trying to save, rescue workers take themselves out of the equation and can better focus on getting out of danger, saving both parties involved. Survival is not selfish. The short story “The Leap,” the essay “Deep Survival,” and the article “Is Survival Selfish” all prove that people don’t have to be selfish to survive. Erdrich gives us the example of a mother who risks her own life for her child and saves them both. Gonzales proves that those that those who think of others survive situations they would have died in otherwise. Wallace argues that they aren’t selfish; it comes down to how their instincts tell them to respond. So, after examining all of the evidence, it’s clear that survival is not selfish.
Works Cited Erdrich, Louise. “The Leap.” Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 339-346. Gonzales, Laurence. “Deep Survival.” Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 325-334. Wallace, Lane. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Argumentative Essay Reflection
List one thing you've learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
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