Think about a time where you watched a thriller movie or read a superhero book. Chances are, the hero has to make the ultimate sacrifice to make sure good prevails over evil. For example, they might be torn between choosing their best friend or the city. Obviously, they have to choose the town…but then they get to save their friend as well. We grew up learning that heroes sacrifice themselves for others because it’s the correct choice to make. However, in reality, the most heroic thing a person can do is the exact opposite: choose to survive. This instinct isn’t a flaw, it’s actually the right decision, against most peoples’ better judgement. Survival may be a split-second choice, but it is never selfish.
First of all, if you faced a life-or-death situation, what would you choose? Would you put your life on the line for others or would you reach for safety? Now, do you have an answer? No, you don’t. You can never predict something ahead of time, especially not something unstable such as survival. It is a fight-or-flight response. Your nervous system takes control and makes the decision for you. Whether you like it or not, you’re never fully in control when it comes to adrenaline boosting situations. According to Louise Erdrich’s *The** Leap*, “As he swept past her on the wrong side, she could have grasped his ankle, the toe-end of his tights, and gone down clutching him. Instead, she changed direction. Her body twisted towards a heavy wire and she managed to hang on to the braided metal…” [paragraph 9, page 38]. Right now, this quote may seem selfish, for Anna Avalon could have spent her last moments with her husband, Harry. However, she chose to save herself instead. In the text, it states, “I owe her my existence three times. The first was when she saved herself.” [paragraph 3, page 36]. Anna thought about the future. She put her life before Harry’s life because it was either they both died or she lived and had a child. She thought about no lives vs. two lives.
Next, social images are a huge factor in who gets shunned and who receives praise. In the argument Is Survival Selfish? by Lane Wallace, she states, “…Ismay was savaged by the media and the general public for climbing into a lifeboat and saving himself when there were other women and children still on board. Ismay said he’d already helped many women and children into lifeboats and had only climbed in one himself when there were no other women or children…But it didn’t matter. His reputation was ruined.” [paragraph 1, page 23]. In this essay, J. Bruce Ismay was the chairman and managing director of the company who owned the Titanic, called White Star. He had a huge and successful reputation, but that all shattered when people began accusing him of being selfish. However, if that same situation happened to a common person, would they even be acknowledged? Ismay was a well-known figure, but do we know anyone else who survived the Titanic? Take Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, for example. He is the lone survivor of the deadly Air India crash that took place in June 2025. He was a businessman, not well known before this aviation disaster. His brother was on board, and Ramesh chose to save himself. While both accidents were devastating and tragic, why was only Ismay shunned? Was it because of his fame? Or is there something else that we don’t know about, maybe a secret feud, hidden to the public?
Finally, while this is dark, sometimes, you can’t do anything to save a person. This is the hard truth, but you can’t help everyone. After watching a person suffer for so long, you get to a point where there’s nothing you can do. Elie Wiesel wrote in his memoir Night, “…I no longer dared to believe that he could elude Death. I did all I could to give him hope.” [paragraph 2, page 108]. In this excerpt, Elie begins to lose hope that his father will recover. His father’s condition worsens as the days pass on, and eventually, the doctors give up on him. While Elie is willing to set the world on fire for his father, he knows that anything he does is hopeless. According to the text, “My father refused to get up. He knew that it would be of no use.” [paragraph 6, page 109]. Even Elie’s father has lost hope in himself. We have to face the fact that you can’t change the fate of someone. Everyone’s journey ends at some point, some earlier than others. People have made rash decisions to save themselves when they knew that they couldn’t save others, but why are they still demeaned?
In conclusion, the decisions you make in the fight for survival can’t be predicted ahead of time. Stuck in a tight spot, you decide what’s best for you at the moment. Even if you look back on it and have remorse, it may have been the correct choice at that time. In The Leap, Anna Avalon chose to save herself rather than go down with her husband. This turned out to be the right move for she later met her second husband and had a child. Additionally, social standards play a big role in the judgement of others. People who have a well-known reputation are more susceptible to discrimination. When J. Bruce Ismay escaped the Titanic, he was looked down upon because there were still other women and children on board the sinking fleet. Moreover, you have to accept the fact that everyone can’t be saved. In Elie Wiesel’s Night, he had to let go of his father when it was confirmed that he couldn't be saved. Now, be honest. Would you save yourself or help a friend? Would you run across a battlefield to help injured civilians? Would you run to the shadows? Both have been done before; now the fate is in your hands. Everything can change in an instant. Stay on your toes. The fight for survival is on.
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