Personal Narrative Essay: The Cost Of Survival

Words: 1147
Pages: 5

“In 2012, millions of people hiked, climbed, and boated in national parks, but only 2,876 needed help. More than 1,600 of those emergencies may have been caused by risky decisions.”(The Cost of Survival Pg. 127 P.3) During this survival unit, I have learned a lot about life-or-death situations and what the cause of them might be. Many people travel dangerous routes in the wilderness every year, no matter their experience of the area. Because of careless behavior, accidents occur resulting in thousands of rescue missions a year. Most believe that those people should be held accountable for their actions, but I believe that it depends on the situation. Some only face these incidents out of pure bad luck, and they shouldn’t be punished for that. For example, natural circumstances such as earthquakes are unavoidable. Therefore, it depends …show more content…
Because of the stress they are under and the situation they’re in, people make drastic decisions. They don’t have the ability to think as well, which makes them think differently during these situations. For example, in the short story, “To Build a Fire,” a man travels alone on a dangerous journey. Unprepared, he faces extreme temperatures that he isn’t comfortable with, and loses his mind in the end. He tries to plot out to kill his dog so he could survive, “He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the warmness went out of them. Then he could build another fire.”(To Build a Fire P.31) This shows how the man could not think as properly under the situation he was in, so he shouldn’t be blamed for how he reacted. After everything he has gone through, how could someone expect him to do everything right? He has already experienced multiple life-or-death moments, how could he be able to handle such pressure that is so new to him? Numbers of people believe this side of the topic, and conclude that they shouldn’t have to pay for their