Zander Roseborough Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 8 November 2018 The Selfishness of SurvivalIs survival selfish? In this essay, I will tell you why I believe survival is selfish. People have to be selfish to survive; authors Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace, and Elie Wiesel prove this in their stories. In the story “Deep Survival,” Laurence Gonzales explains that survival is selfish. Gonzales provides many examples of scenarios in which survival had to be selfish in “Deep Survival.” Gonzales shows that many survivors only survive by being selfish. He tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who survived a plane crash, writing “Tough and clearheaded, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes (not to mention her mother) on the first day, saved herself; the other survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales 326). The only reason the girl survived is that she went on by herself, leaving the others to die. Here is another example showing how survival is selfish. Gonzales points out that those who refuse to follow the rules survive. Gonzales writes, “In the World Trade Center disaster, many people who were used to following the rules died because they did what they were told by authority figures” (Gonzales 327). Gonzales explains that those who broke the rules put in place for public safely survived. Their selfishness saved them. Lane Wallace gives more examples of survival being selfish. Wallace provides many examples in “Is Survival Selfish” of many times when survival required people to be selfish. Wallace argues that survival comes at a cost. Wallace writes, “There is a fine line between brave and foolish. There can also be a fine line between smart and selfish” (Wallace 320). Wallace explains that being brave and saving others before yourself is a foolish thing to do in a survival situation. As a result, being selfish is the smart thing to do. Survival requires that people be selfish. Here is another quote from Wallace about how survival is selfish. Wallace uses the story of a woman who saved herself from a plane crash. The other passengers were frozen, unmoving and she crawled over them to safety. Wallace asks, “Could she really have saved the others? Probably not...if she’d tried, she’d probably have perished with them. So why do survivors berate themselves for not adding to the loss by attempting the impossible?” (Wallace 318). Wallace points out that the woman in the story had to be selfish to survive, and it was only by looking after herself that she was able to make it out alive.Here is our last author with more proof that survival is selfish. Weisel gives many examples that proves survival is selfish in Night.Weisel wrote about how the soldiers that survived not getting put in the gas chamber didn't care about the others. Wiesel writes, “The veterans told us: ‘you’re lucky to have been brought here so late’” (Weisel 308). They don’t want to get attached to the people who will die. Wiesel also provides one more reason why survival is selfish. Wiesel wrote about how the men tried to stay away from the gas chamber. Wiesel writes, “Now it no longer mattered that the work was hard. All that mattered was to be far from the block, far from the crucible of death, from the center of hell” (Wiesel 311). The people wanted to be far away from the chamber because they didn’t want to go there, no matter who that meant they had to sacrifice. Despite the overwhelming evidence that survival is selfish, there are still people who disagree. Some may argue that survival is not selfish, giving examples of people who risked their lives to save others. This seems like a compelling argument on the surface, but it falls apart on closer examination. People can only save others if they put themselves first. You have to be alive to save others. Survival is selfish. In the stories “Deep Survival,” “Is Survival Selfish,” and Night, the authors give many examples of people being selfish in order to survive. Gonzales’ examples of a teenage girl and World Trade Center survivors who had to put themselves first to stay alive support this claim. Wallace talks about a woman who had to crawl over other survivors in order to save herself from a plane crash. Weisel talks about his experience in a concentration camp and the selfishness he had to use to survive. So in the end, yes, survival is selfish.
Work Cited 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.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 307-312.
Reflection 1. List one thing you’ve learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
I learned how to introduce a quote give the quote and explain the quote. In other papers I will use the same skills to write the quote.
2. Identify a specific revision you were asked to make and explain why (this can be at any stage of the writing process). How did you revise? What did you learn?
To fix my header. I didn’t put a space and I had it in the wrong spot. I learned how to make a correct header.
3. What are the conventions of an argumentative essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
We had to give examples of claims and give quotes and had to write a rebuttal. I gave examples and quotes and wrote a rebuttal.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
I might have written more stories.
5. What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper?
My one quote in the last paragraph I picked a great quote.