...survive the horror together. Elie is finally saved when the Americans arrive and liberates the camp from the Germans. The nature of survival and self preservation is shown as being the most important objective within the book. Night displays that when a person’s life is at stake, he/she will put survival before bodily needs, pain, and family. Bodily needs, like the desire to sleep are resisted in Night, due to the possibility of survival being diminished by such needs. Elie has been marching for hours and is finally given the chance to rest. He is exhausted and wishes to fall asleep and regain some strength. Elie was just awoken by his father and his father tells him that if someone falls asleep, “One falls asleep forever” (Wiesel 88). Elie reluctantly “got up, with clenched teeth” and stayed awake with his father (Wiesel 88). Elie understands that if he falls asleep in the snow that he will never wake up again, so he instead resists the desire to sleep and chooses survival over his bodily desires....
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...The Morals of Survival The human instinct for self-preservation is powerful. The instinct and responsibility of all humans is to thrive through desperate and dire situations at all costs. One’s behavior in these crucial situations would flow from their desires and needs and their emotions and psychological state of mind. A concern is raised when we try to find a positive correlation between following one’s moral compass and the success of survival; which there is none. If one does not succumb to their survival instincts – that kick in to aid in an unfamiliar situation – you cannot survive. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi Patel is faced with despairing hardship when the ship he has boarded sinks and he is led astray on a lifeboat with four wild animals along with him. Furthermore, Pi faces the issue of morality versus survival which is especially difficult for him because of his religious nature, the usage of Richard Parker as an emotional and psychological crutch to get through this chaotic circumstance and also, the constant fixation on food and the lack of it. Being lost at sea gives the story a perspective very different from the normal life of Pi Patel. Pi’s will to survive coordinates with his loss of spiritual purity – though those acts of survival are needed for Pi to thrive, in which societal norms of behavior are irrelevant when ones sole priority is to survive in a circumstance that is nearly impossible to overcome. Morality and survival do not go hand and hand...
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...‘Survival of the Fittest’ is defined as the continued existence of organisms that are best adapted to their environment with the extinction of others (Wikipedia: Survival of the Fittest). In Night by Elie Wiesel, in face of extermination the Jews of Sighet commit uncharacteristic ‘sins’. Fear had forced silence, fear had forced evil deeds and fear had turned the Jews against one another. The cruelties of natural selection is described in Night by Elie Wiesel, portraying the breaking of the human spirit, damaging faith in humanity, family, and God. Humanity, an important theme in Elie Wiesel’s memoire is portrayed as an ever changing proposition. The Jews of Sighet, and most importantly Elie, is seen struggling with his conscious based on the inhumane acts of oppression he has witnessed. In the beginning his faith is abundant and is evident through his trust in the German’s and disbelief in Moshie the Beadle (his mentor). “He told me what had happened to him and his companions. …The Jews were ordered to get off and onto waiting trucks. The trucks headed toward a forest. ...Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). Although, Elie did not believe Moshie at first the nightmares described by his mentor became a reality when he had first entered the concentration camps. The traumatizing events witnessed by Elie had caused him to question his faith in the human race while stripping him of reason to live. It was hard for him (Elie) to...
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...Thesis statement: Outline: I. Compare the murder of innocent people A. The Lottery, Tessie dies for picking the marked paper. 1. Killed by a stoning of her peers B. The Most Dangerous Game, Zaroff dies playing a game. 1. Zaroff was the hunter ended up dying as the hunted. II. Contrast why they were murdered. A. The Lottery, Tessie was murdered so town can reap a reward. 1. The instinct of survival makes people very violence. B. The Most Dangerous Game, Zaroff died because he wanted to have fun. 1. Rainsford has turned into the same person as Zaroff. “The Lottery," written by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game," written by Richard Connell, share a common theme of violence and cruelty. In “The Most Dangerous Game” humans are hunted, as if they were animals, to satisfy an unquenchable desire for a challenge. In “The Lottery” the people of a little town is forced to participate in a ritual that will unexpectedly take the life of an unwilling participant to comply with a story that if they sacrifice of one of their own, then the residents of that little town will be guaranteed a bountiful harvest. By comparison, these two stories show us just how selfish we as people can be. Both of these stories contain violence, and murder and show that humans are selfish. “The Lottery," takes place in a small town where the traditions of sacrificing a person for their fruitful harvests are kept. Tessie is a woman who selects the marked lottery...
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...Between 1100 and 1143 the ability of their leaders was the main reason why the crusader states survived’. How far do you agree? During the years 1100 to 1143, there were many factors that helped the crusader states to survive, but I believe that the most important one that guaranteed their survival was indeed the ability of the leaders. The ability of the leaders was demonstrated a year after the capture of Jerusalem in 1099,they established a feudal system which would devolve them great power in return for their support. Leaders set up having vassals, which helped them to expand their power and allegiances in order to increase their chances of survival. Thereafter, between 1100 and 1110 Baldwin I then focused on consolidating his hold in the Levant through raiding and gaining ransoms and wealth from defeating his enemies: and this was significant since it enabled the crusader states to prosper and develop in their premature years. Furthermore, Tancred’s military and financial stability between 1105 and 1110: bringing security to the principality of Antioch. He only engaged the enemy when he needed to and did his best to prevent defeat, a highlight being the Battle of Artah in 1105 against Ridwan. In addition, Baldwin and Tancred cohesively kept day-to-day affairs in order: They pursued trade pacts, integrated into the Near Eastern World and formed limited-term truces even with cooperative military alliances with their Muslim neighbours. Leaders were triumphant in appointing...
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...12 December 2010 * The Guide to Survival * Daniel Defoe’s novel depicts a young Englishman who is shipwrecked on his journey from Brazil. Crusoe becomes joyful after years on the island, calling himself “the king.” Saving the life of a man that the cannibals have come to feast upon, he finds companionship. Naming him Friday, Crusoe takes responsibility for him, educates him but still considers him as a slave. Despite being accustomed to living on a plantation, he adapts to island life. When Crusoe returns later to the island, he finds that the island is an imperial colony governed by Spaniards. When mental toughness is challenged, adaptation to the environment with courage and happiness are the key to survival. * In Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe says “And now I have Difficulties to struggle with, too great for even Nature itself to support, and no Assistance, no Help, no Comfort, no Advice; then I cry’d out, Lord be my help, for I am in great Distress” (91). After Crusoe makes this statement, he becomes independent and figures out the ways of survival by surveying the island as he becomes healthier and starts to mark the days that he has been stranded. He learns that he cannot give up if he wants to see the light of another day. When people are put into a different environment then they are used to, they do not learn to adapt which leads them to an unsuccessful survival point. Change of life styles is the answer to survival just as Crusoe did and people must...
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...story about a boy soldier. One of the themes in this book is survival. When war hit Ishmael Beah, it was all about survival until the end. From the moment Ishmael fled the violence at Mattru Jong, the focus of his life became surviving. For months, Beah had to survive by overcoming hunger and violence. Survival was the most important theme in the book. Ishmael had to survive the war and in the forest all alone. He lost his family and friends. To stay alive during war, he had to join the army. He had to overcome his hunger, the violation, and the isolation. The book states “Things changed rapidly in a matter of seconds and no one had any control...
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...relied on is nations’ own power. Power is an important issue in realism. As Thucydides put it thousands years ago, “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”. The power they discuss here is not absolute power but relative power. It’s a concept that should be compared with other states. The interesting thing is that nothing seems to have been changed now. The international environment, in which obligation and personal emotions are set aside and the interests and survival of the states become top priorities, remains cruel as it used to be. Therefore, realists claim that pursuing power for a state is not only to fulfill its ambition but to survive. The question is why do nations need power to survive? To begin with, in realists’ definition, the state is the main actor in the international system. Though it might be city-state, empire, kingdom or tribe that represented the state at times, the point is this basic unit represents the collective will of people. (Dunne) To quest the good life of its people, the state needs power to fulfill the goal. In addition, realists believe the states operate in an anarchic system, in which no higher authority is in charge. “All other actors in world politics—individuals, international organizations, NGOs, etc.—are either less important or unimportant.” (Jackson, & Sørensen, 2003, p.68) Within this system, no state can intervene in others’ domestic affairs because each of them considers themselves to be their own highest authority...
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...Taking a look at the two different cultures that idolize the female form may give us a little bit of insight into the similarities and differences there were between two different society’s composed of very similar beings. The statuette Venus de Willendorf was first discovered in Austria in 1908 by the archaeologist Josef Szombathy. This is the earliest image of a human being known to exist, thought to have been created during the Paleolithic era some 25,000 years ago (Witcombe)! The climate in the region that the statuette was discovered was probably an ice covered land, and therefore, her voluptuous image probably portrays a desire for food and to survive. Humans will always have one thing in common: survival. Whether it is a work of art portraying the importance of survival, or a toy idolized by people who are celebrating their survical; we have always focused on self-perpetuation. This commonality makes it a little easier for us, hundreds of years into the future, to understand and empathize with what the artist is portraying with the Venus de Willendorf. As we established before, the statuette Venus de Willendorf was presumably...
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...confronted with an unexpected survival situation man has the potential to overcome many challenges, beat incredible odds, and come out a survivor. But just what is survival anyway? Survival is the art of surviving beyond any event. To survive means to remain alive; to live. Survival is taking any given circumstance, accepting it, and trying to improve it, while sustaining your life until you can get out of the situation. And most importantly, survival is a state of mind. Survival depends a great deal on a person's ability to withstand stress in emergency situations. Your brain is without doubt your best survival tool. It is your most valuable asset in a survival situation. It isn't always the physically strong who are the most effective or better at handling fear in emergency situations. Survival more often depends on the individual's reactions to stress than upon the danger, terrain, or nature of the emergency. To adapt is to live. Mental skills are much more important than physical skills in survival situations. A person's psychological reactions to the stress of survival can often make them unable to utilize their available resources. You most likely won't use your physical skills if you don't have a positive mental attitude. One definitely must be in the proper frame of mind to survive an unplanned survival situation. Attitude or psychological state is most certainly number one. It is undoubtedly the most important ingredient of survival. With the proper attitude almost...
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...Survival of the Fittest The most basic reality of evolution is survival of the fittest. For millions of years, only the most capable members of any given species will survive and proceate, while the weaker ones will not. This harsh but undeniable reality is also true for humans. Since the existance of the first human beings, limited resources meant that only the strongest succeeded in the race for survival. This undeniable fact means that all human beings have competition inscribed in their DNA. No matter how selfless an action may appear, human nature is inevitably governed by self-interest. Evidently this does not sound very nice from a philosophical viewpoint. It would be much more noble to be inspired by an interest in the welfare of others rather than one´s own. This vision of a ""selfless"" human nature is the foundation of many currents of thought, namely marxism, where an ideal human community is envisioned and where people do not seek their own welfare as a basic objective. However, history has shown that even in this kind of ""ideal"" community, people still seek their own welfare, and leaders are more interested in increasing their own posessions than in achieving equality for all. This had lead to the development of economic systems that are based on human beings´self interest. Because men and women inevitably search for their own fulfillment, the most effective system has proven to be one like the market economy, where each person´s search for their own benefit...
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...Strong-Ties and Weak-Ties give an apt understanding of memes and their consequences. Blackmore seeming goes against the idea that us humans can generate our own ideas. As she implies "Instead of thinking of our ideas as our own creations, and as working for us, we have to think of them as autonomous selfish memes, working only to get themselves copied"(Blackmore,37). That obviously...
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...Survival is Insufficient It is 6:00 a.m. on a cold, winter morning, the sun is just beginning to rise. The day starts as any normal day would, little known at that time that society was about to change forever. The novel Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, portrays a main theme that survival is insufficient. The Traveling Symphony’s motto not only applies to the book, but to my life in my community and college community as well. The Traveling Symphony’s motto, “survival is insufficient,” may sound shallow, but has a deep meaning. The members of the Traveling Symphony choose to give away their lives performing not only to achieve happiness in themselves, but to find meaning in their work as well. On page 47, Mandel states, “… lived together,...
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...all costs. These natural interests humans have to better position themselves for survival hold true even if it is at the expense of others, which is evident throughout world history and politics. Historically humans have also always struggled for power, and act mostly in their own self-interests in order to position themselves for more power, which ultimately means a better chance of survival. In order to achieve this, these groups work to attain as many resources as possible. Each and every one of these characteristics that humans share are also some of the most basic assumptions of Realism, proving how applicable it is in every society all over the planet (Ferraro Lecture). These viewpoints are very common throughout world politics and always have been. Therefore, as long as humans walk this planet, the ideas of Realism will do so as well. Humans have had a natural interest to survive since the beginning of their existence. One of the most basic fundamentals of realism is that the primary concern of every nation state is survival. This not only means survival for ones self, but for their families and their communities. This basic human instinct has shaped every aspect of the way we live today, especially politically. Therefore, even as the world forever changes as time passes and people come and go, it will very much stay the same. So how does one protect their natural interest of future survival? They need to build up their power, which is vital for many reasons. First, The...
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...they decide which are strong and which are weak. They affect our behaviour through our consciousness and our brains. Selfishness- the principle of acting in one’s own interest. Dawkins uses this term when writing about the selfish gene as he is suggesting just like most creatures who will to survive, each gene is trying to prolong its own survival and existence. It can do this through different ways. The Extended Phenotype- an idea to mean the effects that a gene has on the outside world that may influence its chances of being replicate. Great example- For instance a Beaver dam might be considered a phenotype of beaver genes, the same way beaver’s incisors might be considered to be a phenotype of beaver genes. This would mean that both the dam and the teeth are phenotypes expressions of their genes. Mutations- these are simply changes. In a sense Dawkins is suggesting that genes can mutate and there evolve within a body. This can then affect behaviour in a person. These changes can occur in a life and genes can replicate themselves. Replicators- genes that are trying on an unconscious level to make more of themselves to enable their survival. This can be done by procreation but also within a person. Consciousness- Our sense of self and the idea that we are one not simply millions of genes fighting for survival. Dawkins believes that this consciousness is something that is projected by our brains to enable ourselves to work as one and save as many genes as apossible. By making...
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