** The first two books in my six part dystopian series have officially made their way out into the world! Check them out!
For the sake of blogging and self-exploration and contemplation, I’ve been slowly making my way through answering questions from this list.
Today’s question : Would you ever give up your life to save someone else?
That’s not the easiest of questions, and it would entirely depend on the situation. I’ve learned that I’m not exactly a hero in impulsive situations. Once I was on a white water rafting trip with family and we got hung up on a rock and the raft started to trip. Technically you’re supposed to be responsible for the person sitting next to you, i.e. pull them back into the boat if they might fall, and we were in heavy rapids. I happened to be sitting next to my stepmother. We got hung up on a rock and the raft started to tip, my side of the raft rose and hers was tipping into the water. She nearly fell in, but I was clinging to my side trying not to fall and didn’t reach for her, my dad had to turn around and basically yank her back into the boat before she completely fell into the rapids. Now, my stepmom and I aren’t exactly friends, but I swear there was no malice in my failure to “save” her, it was just instinctual to SAVE MYSELF in that moment.
However, what if, in theory, it wasn’t an impulsive / emergency situation? What if someone I loved was dying and needed a heart transplant, and my heart was the only match? Would I give up my life for them if I had the choice to do so, and time to think my decision through? I don’t have a definitive answer for that. Or what if I was in a burning building and I heard a baby crying? Would I run back inside to try and save them? I want to say yes without question, but the reality is, I don’t know. I would HOPE that if I could save a child, or an animal, I would … but I don’t think anyone ever really knows what they’ll do in a situation until they are truly in it. I would hope that I would do anything to save a child, or to save an animal (or anyone even if it’s someone I’m not fond of) but I don’t think it makes us bad people to have a sense of self-preservation, either. I don’t think that means a person is heartless or selfish. Props to the awesome firefighters who do run into burning buildings to save others, but I don’t think that it makes you a bad person if you don’t or can’t do the same.
Kell Frillman - Author 