Should the seventh man feel guilty

The seventh man recalls his childhood tragedy that has influenced most of his life. A monstrous wave swallowed his best friend, K. during their walk in the storm’s eye. “As clearly as I knew what I ought to be doing, I found myself running the other way- running full speed towards the dyke, alone. ” Remarked the seventh man. Subject him to survivor’s guilt. As Nancy Sherman states in The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt: “Objective or rational guilt, by contrast - guilt that is “fitting” to one’s actions - accurately tracks real wrongdoing or culpability: guilt is appropriate because one acted to deliberately harm someone, or could have prevented harm but did not. ”Yet, he had been as childlike as incapable to act against fear. It could’ve killed both if he tried saving K as you know how waves sweep. The seventh man shouldn’t feel responsible. As a result, he has developed PTSD. According to Mayo Clinic, typical symptoms amongst trauma survivors are psychogenic fever, nausea, avoidance, intrusive memory. Those correspond with the seventh man's experiences. Patients with PTSD are usually the subjects of survivor’s guilt. (Medical News Today). “The guilt begins an endless loop of counterfactuals - thoughts that you could have or should have done otherwise, though in fact you did nothing wrong. ”- Nancy Sherman. “I knew that I could’ve saved K. if I had tried… it always seemed to me that I could’ve made it. ” thought the man. K’s parents' response to the incident weighs his guilt downright. Occasioning him feels responsible for K’s death and the parents’ grief, thus their behavior. “It pained me all the more that K. 's parents failed to blame me and that everyone else was so careful never to say anything to me about what had happened. ” Traumatic events embed intrusive memories subconsciously, causing disturbing nightmares or flashbacks. In the seventh man’s memories, “K. was always there, lying in the wave tip, grinning at me, his hand outstretched, beckoning. ” The grinning as he understood later wasn’t of resentment but of light and angle accident. But for now, to the boy is K’s grudge for relinquishing him behind. And so he feels responsible. The guilt even worsened with grief: “I managed to recover - physically, at least. But my life would never be the same again. ” “The sacred bond among soldiers originates not just in duty but in love. ” In the same sense, the brotherly affection of K. and the man originates not just in love but in duty. The man treated K. as his little brother, therefore, he’s obliged to protect K. To Sherman the guilt emphasizes moral significance more than moral action: "Who I am, in terms of my character and relationships, and not just what I do matters morally. ” The man defines himself as the frail K. 's protector and best friend. His failure in saving K. triggers a sense of betrayal against their friendship, and himself. Like the soldiers’ fonderness in Sherman’s editorial against an unfortunate fate: “Feelings of guilt and responsibility tangled with feelings of having betrayed fellow soldiers” Nevertheless, the man during the situation wasn’t ill-considered. In fact, he tried to reach out. However, blamed himself for mis-communicating K: “. . . or possibly I had not yelled as loudly as I had thought. ” Our minds often contort situations to accommodate our opinion meanwhile. It is uncertain whether he had yelled loud enough. But certain that guilt represents. Sherman defines guilt as thoughts that you could’ve done better or otherwise. “In war, standing here rather than there can save your life but cost a buddy his. It’s flukish luck, but you feel responsible. ” It’s his flukish luck at being able to perceive the sound “a sound that only I could hear - some special kind of sound. Not even K. ’s dog seemed to notice, and you know how sensitive dogs are to sound. ” Bad luck aggravates the guilt. “Calvin: There's no problem so awful, that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse. ” - Bill Watterson. The seventh man does not deserve to endure the trauma longer than it had lasted. K. was a “sweet, pure-hearted boy”. The like of him wretching over his friend’s guilt is more than resentment. K’s parents have a good reason to chastise the seventh man, though they under no circumstances did. “As great a blow as this had been for them, though K’s parents never chided me for having taken their son down to the shore in the midst of a typhoon. ” The situation indeed, was bad luck, but never as horrible as guilt has painted it. By the time he admitted: “I might have been making a terrible mistake all those years. ” It's already overdue. The guilt and fear have taken up most of his life whereas in his dreams, his hometown and even marriage. He acknowledged: “I know it’s probably too late to start again. I may not have much time left to live. But even if it comes late… in the end, I was able to attain a kind of salvation”. If luck was on his side, he could’ve saved K. If not. They both die. In The Cost of Survival, “Many rescue workers have lost their own lives saving others”, and he was just a kid, incapable of quelling over fear. Individual handles one’s own life. He did the right thing to save his own, so shall K. However, he tried. Communication works both ways, and K. did not acknowledge the man, “I was sure that I had yelled loud enough, … He might have been so absorbed in whatever it was he had found that my call made no impression on him. K. was like that. ” K. 's failure shouldn't be the man’s fault. The man shouldn’t feel convicted of K. ’s death. Some people blame the responsibility on the seventh man. If he was never to go outside in the middle of a typhoon, K. would’ve not died. It is immoral for the man to leave K. behind as he admitted: “As clearly as I knew what I ought to be doing, I found myself running the other way- running full speed towards the dyke, alone. ” His act of cowardice is clearly being spotted when he peters out of dread, “Of course, character is expressed in action” (Sherman), “What made me do this, I’m sure, was fear, a fear so overpowering it took my voice away and set my legs to running on their own. ” (the seventh man). He should feel guilty to K. and himself for being weak. Regardless if the act was intentional, it is his culpability for “could have prevented harm and did not” (Sherman). In Sherman’s editorial, an ethical virtue often goes with “moral significance” and "moral action". He ran away while knowing his duty to protect the frail K. His “moral significance” and “moral action” conflict, showed he did not “walk the walk”. Lacking ethical decency. The counterclaim has overlooked the key. Concretely, the man had tried to warn K about the wave. It falls upon K. that he refused to acknowledge. Mistakes are caused to be forgiven. In fact, the man has endured the guilt long enough to ruin his life. K represents his past that he can’t alter. But comprehending it in his future or not depends on him. He has failed most of his life. Failed to confront his fear. Failed to elucidate the guilt. Living up to it almost everyday. Agree or not, he has allowed enough of the punishment he pronounced himself. The punishments: He pleaded with his parents to flee the place: “ If I didn’t get out of there, I’d go crazy. ” Haunted every night by the blameworthiness represented in the grinning K. ’s eyes, “They remained part of my life, though … And it was always the same dream, down to the smallest detail. ” He never married, he was frightened that his screams would wake his dear up. He thought “K’s cold hand, this dark premonition caught hold of my mind and refused to let go. ” K. de facto was dead. The sole thing grasping his mind is the “endless loop” of guilt. Without doubt, the wave “It just barely missed me, but in my place it swallowed everything that mattered most to me. ” (the seventh man) “Everything” included K. and the seventh man’s color. The seventh man shouldn’t feel guilty about K’s death. But about what he had missed over his guilt. Such senseless guilt. Such irrational as survivor’s guilt has prevented him from enjoying his own life.