Survivor Guilt In The Story 'The Seventh Man'

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Imagine blaming yourself for the death of someone close, the guilt weighing down on your shoulders… You know it wasn’t your fault but you can’t shake the feeling that you could’ve done something to avert the situation. Drowning in disbelief that you survived yet they didn’t. This is known as survivors guilt. In the story “The Seventh Man” the narrator undergoes survivors guilt when he was unable to save his best friend K.. The narrator of “The Seventh Man” should forgive himself for his failure to save K., if he tried any harder to save K he might've died as well. It wasn’t his fault that K. was unable to hear him, therefore the narrator of “The Seventh Man” shouldn’t be at fault nor accuse himself. By definition survivor guilt is a mental …show more content…

What good would it do if both of them died, then not one but two families would’ve lost a child. He tried his hardest to save K. and to save himself. Even though that’s true, the narrator still deals with survivor guilt. It begins to affect his life, for something he couldn’t have prevented. He starts having nightmares and can’t stand to live at home. “I stayed away from my hometown for forty years. I never went to that seashore--or any other,” (Murakami 139). There is nothing he could’ve done, yet he still blames himself. “A person feels guilty about what they perceive they could or should have done,” (What’sYourGrief?). The narrator on goes survivor’s guilt because he feels guilty that he should’ve done something differently so K. would be alive. The narrator should condone that it wasn’t his fault and forgive …show more content…

He should forgive himself because it’s not his fault that K. was unable to hear him when he shouted. “I was sure I had yelled loud enough, but my voice did not seem to have reached him,” (Murakami137). The narrator tried as much as he could to save K., but K. was too absorbed into what he was looking at. The second time he shouted it was too late and fear took over and he had to try to survive himself. As a child you can’t override the fear that kicks in. There was nothing he could’ve done that would result in both of them alive. Why should you not forgive yourself for something for a failure that you tried your hardest to

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