In order to survive in any situation, you must have integrity, bravery, and prior experience. All three traits give you the intelligence to make good choices, the courage to do what is best, and prepare you for different positions. In this essay I will explain how these traits are present in different sources. Some people show one trait, others show all such as Lexi Youngberg (Neville). In any time you need to survive, look to these traits; integrity, bravery, and past experience.
They will guide to to the best possible outcome for your situation. Integrity. What does this mean? Stacey Skrysak could tell you. She is a mother of one, with two miscarriages. That’s right, she was pregnant with triplets who were all born premature. The first died instantly, the second only surviving less than a day, but the last, Peyton, lived. This woman went through wonders. “While struggling with the loss of their two newborns, [Stacey and Ryan Skrysak] focused their attention on daughter Peyton’s survival,” (Herbst). Mrs.
Skrysak needed to understand she had lost two of the three triplets, but continue to live with a happy heart for her daughter who made it through the early arrival. Sarah, from Sarah’s Key also had integrity. Her story takes place in 1942 when French police took jews out of their homes and put them in camps. Sarah’s family were jews. “[Sarah’s] parents would be proud of [Sarah]… [Sarah] was going to Paris, to save her brother. Proud, because she wasn’t afraid. ” (Rosnay, 98) This shows Sarah’s bravery in the hardest of times to make her parents, brother, and herself proud.
Her brother was trapped in a hideout in their apartment, thinking he would be able to get out soon. Sarah did what she knew she should do to save her brother, even if it means she could be killed, or later die trying to get back home. Sydney Corcoran, Boston Marathon Bombing survivor, also explains how her mother, another survivor showed integrity while going through recovery. “[Sydney] looked up to [her mother) … because she was coping so well. [Sydney] saw her strength and perseverance; that encouraged me to keep going,” from page 9 of “I Survived The Boston Marathon Bombing. (Lewis and Brian, 9)
Sydney saw the strength in her mother, even though her mother was, at the time, still comprehending the fact she would never walk with her own legs again. In conclusion to integrity, the ability to make honest decisions and choices will increase chances of survival. Without it, you would have nothing to live for, connecting to bravery. “Remember that braver is not the lack of fear, but the ability to move forward in spite of fear,” Unknown. Bravery is your confidence boost that gives you the courage to get through the struggle.
This is a crucial trait to survival because of many reasons. First, Ben Solomon, a reporter for the New York Times, spent a couple of weeks in Africa during the ebola outbreak reporting. He showed this trait as he got very close to bodies infected with the menacing disease. Ben explains, “the situation was bleak and exhausting. The horror was constant. ” (New York Times) so, during the experience, the reporters, such as Ben, had to be brave so that they could leave the country healthy. Going back to the Boston Marathon Bombing story, Sydney had to be brave as well. [Sydney] would later learn that a piece of metal had ruptured her femoral artery. One of the body’s most important arteries… ” (Lewis and Brian, 7).
Sarah Starzynski, from Sarah’s Key was brave to attempt escaping the camp. If she didn’t have the courage to leave, she most likely would have died at the camp in the next few days. Bravery helped all three of these survivors pull through the hardships of each of their situations, and in more ways than one. Prior experience. To be aware of a particular instance of personally encountering or undergoing something (Dictionary. com).
When you have already been through hard times, you might understand how this trait can be useful so that you can make intelligent choices in future when you might be in another situation you may need to know how to feel or do something. “About the hall were mounted heads of many animals-lions, tigers, elephants, moose, bears; larger or more perfect specimens Rainsford had ever seen. ” (Connell, 5). In this story, General Zaroff was also a survivor because of prior experiences. (He is the one who killed all of those animals). On his island, where he hunts humans, the General has never to his own game of’survival.
Which means he eventually killed all of the contestants, (captured men who come to the island) or they die on their own. As well as the General, Rainsford too is a great survivor with the same characteristic as General Zaroff. “It is a very great pleasure and honor to welcome Mr. Sanger Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home… [General Zaroff] read [Rainsford’s] book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet… ” (Connell, 4) This shows Rainsford has prior knowledge of hunting that later helps him in the story when his hunting skills are tested.
In the movie Castaway by Robert Zemekis, Chuck Noland survived by using his resources and rethinking past acquaintances so that he could build a raft, weave a rope, and cut down trees for logs. If Chuck didn’t have the consciousness of how to build a fire using two sticks, he wouldn’t have lived for as long as he did. As you can see, General Zaroff, Rainsford, and Chuck Noland all had prior experience to go on a long struggle. So, in any situation of a wanted successful outcome, you must have integrity, bravery, and prior experience.
While you also need perseverance, awareness, hope, and other traits to survive, these three traits are what I focused on today. People get arrested, families suffer, hearts break, and only some survive. Stacey Skrysak, Sarah Starzynski, and Sydney Corcoran had integrity. Ben Solomon, Sarah, and Sydney were brave. General Zaroff, Rainsford, and Chuck Noland had past experience. As you can see, some of these characters fall under two categories. In reality, they all are part of all three. You just have to, as Princess Tiana says, “dig a little deeper,” into their stories to see.