Character Analysis: Is Survival Selfish

Survival, something we hear almost daily in TV, movies and shows but we never realize what survival truly implies, what it truly requires of someone. Survival is a feat humans have been accomplishing for many hundreds of thousands of years but in this age we are starting to forget what survival truly means and what it requires from a person. Most of us may not put much thought on exactly survival is we just know that it means to try to stay alive but that is far from the full definition. There are many hundreds of books in which discuss the requirements of survival such as Is Survival Selfish? or in a book which the main character has to survive challenging obstacles such as The Hunger Games, and Night. Throughout these books we get to see the main characters survive several horrifying concentration camps or battle arenas thanks to the strength they had to get back up, determination to keep them fighting even when it seemed that they lost and the resilience to survive the

constant blows dealt to them.
Strength one of the most important characteristics of a survivor, it keeps them alive in some of the worst condition they could find themselves in. “Not to feel the horrible pains in my foot. Not to feel anything neither weariness nor cold nor anything.” Here Elie purposely ignores the pain and horrible fatigue brought by running 45 miles through the snow to keep himself alive. “We had forgotten everything-death, fatigue our natural shots and desire to die. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and desire to die” Here Elie explains how everyone else was also strong while running and resilient to the fact that they had been running for the whole night through the snow and cold even though they were malnourished and terrible mistreated.
Determination, something everyone needs to survive through even the most horrible conditions one could find themselves in.

“After realizing that the people around her were too paralyzed to react, she took direct action, crawling over several rows of people to get to the exit. She got out of the plane and survived. Very few others in the plane, which was soon consumed by smoke and fire, did.” In this segment from Is Survival Selfish, we clearly see that this woman was determined to survive, right after that she saw that everyone else was paralyzed she took power to her own hands and escaped the burning plane if she did not have the determination she probably would not have gotten out of the plane in time. “It was slow-going at first, but I was determined to feed us. I stole eggs from nests, caught fish in nets, sometimes managed to shoot a squirrel or rabbit for stew.” Katniss from The Hunger Games has to be determined to feed her family because without her help her family would

starve.
Last but not least, resilience the ability for the survivor to take on the worst of the worst and come out on top. “ One day when Idek was seized with one of his fits of frenzy, i got in his way. He leapt on me, like a wild animal,hitting me in the chest,on the head… his blows growing more and more violent...I was covered with blood... He must have taken my silence for defiance,for he went hitting me harder.” Here Elie was attacked by one of his tormentors, he was beaten and beaten but did not give in, he kept silence not screaming in pain instead he kept taking the hits without protest. “ Get up? How could I? How could I get myself out of this fluffy bed?... I got up, gritting my teeth supporting me with his arm, he let me outside.” Even though Elie was exhausted from running over 45 miles in the cold without rest he still managed to get up with his father and kept moving along.
It is quite obvious that survivors are a special type of people, they have skills which few other people have unlocked or even bother to explore those skills. Survivors have unlocked the basic skills that allow them to survive through the worst of situations. In the end survivors are separated from the non survivors by life and death. A survivor may need a lot of skills but some of the most important skills a survivor has at his/her disposal are not something too complicated like how to start a fire with a stick or how to find food in the jungle, infact they are some of the most simple skills everyone has deep inside of them strength, determination and resilience.