Survivor Guilt In The Vietnam War

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"It's flukish luck, but you feel responsible. 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" (Sherman 153). In this statement, Sherman is describing how countless war veterans go through the concept of survivor guilt. Whomever the war veteran may be, feels as if they are blameworthy and accountable for one's' death. Survivor guilt is often taken to the utmost extreme, where whomever survived, didn't necessarily survive mentally. They use one's death as a burden and weight on their life now. This concept of survivor guilt specifically applies to the seventh man who lived a life of monotony and dullness just because of a close friend's death …show more content…
Guilt and empathy is what the seventh man experienced day after day in his failure to save K. These feelings were endless despite the fact that it was in no way, his fault for K’s death. He let survivor guilt take over his life to the point where it was not healthy whatsoever. He lived his life restively and never got to really have a feel of what the real essence of life is. The seventh man never left his house, never went to the beach, never went swimming, nor did he ever get married after K’s death. This simple mistake from his childhood haunted him until he was adult, regardless if it was his fault or not.
Many people will argue that the seventh man should continue to feel that sense of empathy and guilt in his failure to save K. because he was with K. in his last moments before he was swept away in the wave. One may believe that the seventh man was culpable for K’s death because it was his idea in the first place to bring K. down to the shore, in the midst of a storm. Although the seventh man knew that the eye of the storm was …show more content…
died ran through the seventh man’s head on a daily basis. He questioned why he survived, and why K. did not. He couldn't seem to forgive himself. It wasn’t his fault, but he couldn't seem to come to a consensus to think otherwise. This idea of survivor guilt took control over his life and was everlasting. As mentioned earlier, the seventh man did attempt to save K, but K. was too busy with something else. K. was unaware that the seventh man was trying to get his attention, which resulted in his death. Could the seventh man attempted to save K? Possibly, but highly doubtful. If the seventh man would of went down to the shore to rescue K, they both, most likely, would of been dead. The wave would of taken both of their lives and swept them in. In the “Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” it talked about how it is completely normal to go through survivor guilt. Whether it may be survivors of the Holocaust, rescue workers, war veterans, or even a close friend dieing, just like the seventh man, they all will feel some type of emotion. Death can play a huge role in one’s life, where both their mental well-being and physical well-being can be traumatically affected. The feeling of survivor guilt is completely normal and just shows that one is a moral person. If one did not feel any kind of remorse and guilt, he or she would probably be judged and thought to be less of a person. The only issue with survivor guilt is the reasonableness. The seventh man
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