Compassion

Barbara Lazear Ascher writes a well formed essay on the concept of compassion. Compassion is something that we do for others out of the kindness of our hearts. She focuses more on the poor, just how we show them sympathy, why do we do such things. Is showing empathy from our hearts or just for them to go away. I enjoyed this essay due to the fact, that she gives humanistic reasons on why people are compassionate, she doesn’t sugar coat anything, and lastly she breaks down the compassion that she sees everyday.

With each repetition, the man appeals to a different, implied component of the Holy Trinity, each to no avail. Behind the simplicity of each iteration a question is asked: why? The man’s experience in the cellar has confirmed his musing that if there really was a God, he would not abandon them in this way, forcing humans to eat one another, His own sacred creatures, in order to survive. Moving past the Cellar Scene and continuing with him for the remainder of his journey is the fact that the man’s focus has been shifted to a new savior, one who will continue to carry the fire of humanity and love and never allow its flame to be extinguished. This savior is the boy. The boy embodies the characteristics of the new world, one of compassion, generosity, kindness, and hope, a world that will rise anew from the ashes. While the man is beginning to realize his son’s role, he still faces an internal conflict as his selfish instinct to shield the boy from the horrors of the world obstructs his understanding of the critical role the boy plays as the carrier of the fire. Dark, tumultuous thoughts wrestle in the man’s mind on page 114 as he asks himself “Can you do it? When the time comes?” After being exposed absolute corruption in the cellar, the man contemplates, doing possibly the worst thing he could - murder his son - in order to save the boy’s

Are people born with a complete quandary when it comes to compassion or is it something that has always been there? Barbara Lazear Ascher, born in 1946, writes, “On Compassion.” Having lived in New York City, Ascher is able to take first hand examples from the city to show the affection people have towards each other. Ascher is able to illustrate that compassion is something that has to be taught because of the adversity at people’s heels by including tone, persuasive appeals, and the mode of comparing and contrast in her essay, “On Compassion.”

Compassion is learned through experience and seeing those less fortunate; it brings out sympathy because one cannot ignore it when unfortunate people are everywhere.

Compassion is one of the fundamental characteristics implemented into patient care by health care providers. Compassion signifies “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering” (Compassion, n.d.). Nurses and other health care providers provide selfless service, tireless dedication, compassion, and often neglect their personal needs, which

The sons character is a symbol of hope to the father throughout the novel. In the father’s perspective the son is almost described as holy, “if he is not the word of god. god never

The son however is the ‘faith’ within the story. He is the hope for a better future. The son is more trusting towards others and therefore becomes upset and quiet when his father doesn’t agree with him. “I’m afraid for that little boy” – The son has never seen another young boy and is frightened for him but his father shrugs off his pleas to help him and says “I know but he’ll be alright”. Towards the end of the book it appears that the father and his son become distant to each other due to their diverse personalities. It could however be seen that the son is a lot more knowledgeable about dangers and therefore does not need his father as much.

Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering (Dictionary.com). In the Annex you can see that many people are very compassionate towards each other. One example of this is when Peter’s cat gets lost and cannot be found. You’d expect for him to get told to suck it up and that it’s just a cat, and they’ve more important things to worry about. Instead of this you see that they try to find his cat and calm him down, which I think is very compassionate of them to think of Peter and how much he loves his cat instead of telling him to suck it up.

Compassion is that feeling that motivates a person to help another human in need. Whether that need is an emotional, physical, or spiritual need. When caring for another human being, as nurses, we cannot help but feel that urge to help the person in front of us. We want to find the details that can

The definition of compassion in the oxford dictionary is ''sympathetic pity and concern for the suffering or misfortunes of others''. Oxford dictionary (2013) However senior lecturer Penny Harrison says there is no accurate definition for compassion as it is a word that can be understood in different ways. Harrison, P. (2009)

Within literature, Compassion has been described in many ways though very few descriptions have agreed on how it is best identified (Volpintesta 2011). Crowther et al (2013) describe compassion as a deep emotion that is felt by the individual practitioner allowing them to understand what the patient may be experiencing. Nussbaum (2003) argues that compassion goes beyond just understanding and identifying that emotion, it requires the practitioner to produce a response to the feeling or emotion in order to improve the situation. Dewar (2011) points out that compassion is not only about the recognition of the patients suffering but includes small

others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” My precept is that it lies at the heart of all

Compassion has little to no boundries. In almost every great story there is a specific character or a group of characters that help the protagonist because they feel bad for them. Compassion is the most important aspect of a functioning society; therefore, Elie Wiesel’s Night, 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose, and the generosity of spirit shown by the average citizen after the recent shooting in Las Vegas are all perfect examples.

Compassion represents an “acknowledgement of another’s suffering and is accompanied by the expression of a desire to ease or end that suffering.” (Van der Cingal, 2009, p. 124) This is a fundamental characteristic usually found in health care workers and nurses especially. In one twelve hour shift, a nurse’s job can change from taking vitals and administering medications to performing life saving measures

Then it is told that, ?he will do one of two things/he will admit to everything/or he'll say he's just not the same,? which is meaning he might come out and say he needs help and stay, or he might leave and never return. The last verse ends with, ?and you'll begin to wonder why you came,? once again, any which way telling us that even at the end of the conversation he is doubting his skills to help the youth.