Selfishness: Article Analysis

Survival for me means to survive. It means that you get to have another chance in life. It means that you have to use your knowledge to stay alive. I think it also means to live through something that was

When answering questions such as why should I be moral or why shouldn't I be selfish does not have a definite answer. It is based on the people around you and your personal culture and traditions.

As a Hutu, Paul is expected to despise the Tutsi’s and to be a part of the violence and

Survival is the driving force of life. Every living thing has a motive to survive and thrive in its environment. Survival is unique, because survival is unique it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it requires. However, there are things that are seen over and over in situations where survival is threatened. The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, including other texts and videos requires different things ignoring temptations, a strong sense of willpower and change.

Selfishness is defined as the act of being someone who lacks concern for others, only caring for personal gain. Often, people are selfish due to a lack of empathy, misinformation, or a lack of information. The ability of literature to have us experience different worlds through different perspectives is fairly useful for combating this. In fact, literature can shock us about the idea of selfishness and give us pause and new insights into it, if not necessarily cause us to realize our own lack of selflessness and shock us out of it.

Survival, as defined by the dictionary is “a person or thing that survives or endures especially an ancient custom, observance, belief, or the like.” In the novel “Looking for Alibrandi”, survival is a huge factor that author Melina Marchetta has implemented to engage and initiate curiosity of the reader as to how the characters will respond to mental and physical challenges. “Looking for Alibrandi” may represent the idea of survival through the many cases of racial and personal discrimination, the inability for some to survive and the human nature of surviving,

As they approached the frontlines of the two warring parties, Paul and the Tutsis saw an equally large number of Hutus who inhabited the Tutsi controlled area of Rwanda that were trying to flee to safety behind the Hutu frontline. These same refugees seemed to be suffering almost as much at the hands of the scorned Tutsi rebels. Additionally, through the Hutus' heinous actions, Paul comes to the realization that the rest of the world does not care in the least about the Tutsis' cruel and inhumane destruction and near eradication from the planet. As the protagonist's hopes for intervention fade, he must understand that the Western world is not only racist, but uncaring about his people's hardships and his people altogether. Thus, it can be seen that in Hotel Rwanda one learns valuable lessons about the morality of war. One learns that not only is war highly immoral, but that even this nearly intolerable cruelty can be matched by the even more inhumane act of indifference and non-interference in the face of such cruelty. This type of cruelty and lack of compassion truly reveals that the horrendous cruelty and immorality of war can be matched by the immorality of cold hearted indifference and inaction toward that

April 6th, 1994 in Rwanda there was revenge that Hutus wanted to do after the president was shot down and died. Then the Hutus start saying in radio that the president was shot down and died. After that one of the Hutus, soldiers said in the radio to confessed to the rest of the Hutus people to start killing Tutsis people, also calling name such as cockroaches. Began people dying because of the Hutus killed them and their blood was everywhere. Paul Rusesabagina was the only Hutu that Tutsis trust so they came to his house the night that the killed. Began the next morning the Hutu armies try to kill all of them then Paul said I would give you 10,000 fences for his family it was not enough money for everybody. He gathers the money from some of the Tutsis have and gives to them. The armies took Paul to the hotel then give the money to the armies. There were 1,200 Tutsis that Paul saved moderate Hutus from being murdered by the Interahamwe militia. He went through dangerous things for all of them but doesn’t complain.

What do these texts suggest to you about the interplay between empathy and self-interest? Support your idea(s) with reference to one or more of the texts presented and to your previous knowledge and/or experience.

Laurence Gonzales is the author of the book ‘From Deep Survival’, the topic of ‘From Deep Survival’ is about surviving with the resources you have. In a life-threatening situation some people live, while others give up. Laurence Gonzales discusses the differences between these groups by outlining a series of survival anecdotes. These stories show that survival is more than just trying to survive. It’s using your skills and knowledge to help you know what’s best to when you’re in a sticky situation and not leaving your fate in someone else's hands. “She’d get herself out. It was another important moment: She didn’t spend time bemoaning her fate. She looked to herself, took responsibility and made a plan.” (Gonzales, 27).

The Hutu didn’t care at all about what they had to do to murder the Tutsi as long as they did away with their kind. In one scene of the movie, Paul is driving with a box of food for the refugee, and while on the road it feels unsecure to drive on as if they are driving over something or leaning into a ditch of water. Paul gets out only to find out that it was over a thousand of dead bodies of Tutsi people. Being faced with all of these threats towards his family and friend would usually make someone abandon them to save themselves, but Paul was a heroic man. He say that there was differently something wrong with the hatred fueled by the Hutu towards the Tutsi, and he wanted to stop it. He did whatever it took and called everyone who was willing to help. He took care of those people when ordinary Hutu men would have fled to save themselves. He promised them that they would all be safe and he would get them far away from this war. In the end of the movie, he does in fact save over one thousand refugee by convincing the military to guard them on the road to the safety zone. Paul struggled to keep all of those refugees safe, and in the end it

Tales of survival in particular have always intrigued me. A person facing their lowest point or most difficult situation is in a unique position to find out what they are truly made of. The incredible perseverance and resolve of the human spirt and the unthinkable things people will do to survive are a testament to this. Most stories of survival involve a lone man or woman. A few entail a small group working together to overcome difficult circumstances. Very few indeed exist regarding a large group working in unity to stay alive. A primary reason for this is that in order for a larger group to coalesce and form the partnerships and bonds

“Dictionary.com” defines survival as an aspect of “remaining alive, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances” . This quote specifies that when one’s under significant circumstances, survival will become a priority. This is a theme that is very important in both novels studied this year, “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel, and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. This means that staying alive will become a task. People can depend on survival and become desperate to do anything for life.

Survival is being able to endure and live through challenges that may wear you down (mentally or physically), and there are several ways of showing survival. “The Story of Keesh,” by Jack London, depicts survival through a harsh setting. “The Five People You Meet In Heaven,” by Mitch Albom, depicts survival through character development. In sum, the idea of survival is shown in literature through these two different ways.

In general, the term ‘survive’ is defined as ‘continued living or existing’. So ‘survival’ would simply mean the act of continuing to live or exist. ‘Survival’ and the