Alive Essay, Research Paper
Alive
Sometimes, when human beings do something that they believe is wrong, they rationalize: that is, they invent reasons that support their decisions. The survivors rationalize and convince themselves that it was right to eat the flesh of the dead passengers. The following are examples of convincing reasons to support their decisions.
There were conflicts among the men about their food problem, should they cross the line between man and beast, and become cannibals to survive or should they die as civilized men. All they had to eat after the crash was a lick of jam, some chocolate, and barely half a cup of wine for each meal. Their reason for eating the bodies was basically to survive the harsh cold of the Andes Mountains. One of the main reasons why the survivors wanted to eat the flesh was because the bodies had proteins. Proteins help their bodies to function properly, so they wouldn t freeze at night because their bodies would have the strength to produce the heat that would keep them warm. The survivors eventually got used to eating the flesh because that was practically all that they had to eat. There were only two precautions in which the survivors had to be careful while eating the flesh. The first precaution was not to eat the flesh after leaving it exposed to the sun for a long time. The reason for this is because the meat may be rotten and become dangerous to eat. The second precaution that they should not do before eating the flesh shouldn t be cooked. The reason for this is because all of the proteins would be lost and the survivors would get nothing out of the meat that they would need. So it would be better to eat the flesh raw, straight from their bodies while they still have their proteins alive in their bodies.
One conflict was that the survivors didn t want to eat the bodies because they thought that it would offend God. They said that in a way they were eating people, their friends and family. One of the men explained that the bodies were only bodies and not their friends and family. He explained that the soul is what makes a person. When they die, the soul leaves the body and goes to heaven. When they decided to eat the bodies they gave the excuse that at the Last Supper Jesus Christ offered his body and blood to his disciples. When the few survivors ate the dead bodies and got better, it convinced the other survivors to eat too. The other survivors vowed that when they die they re allowed to eat their bodies.
Another conflict that the survivors encountered was how they would get enough energy to be able to reach the tail of the plane. Without any other food left, their only hope was the dead bodies. With no food they wouldn t be able to do any work, they would be very weak. A few passengers saw that there was no other solution. The bodies were preserved with nutrients called protein, which would help the others survive. Some were too weak to understand but most sacrificed their bodies to be eaten. The men on the expedition to Chile were successful in finding the tail, thanks to the energy from the dead bodies. Until they were rescued 16 people survived on what they thought was an impossible mission, eating human flesh.
The survivors convinced themselves that in that situation it was right to eat the dead passengers. They thought it was acceptable because Jesus sacrificed his body for his Disciples. The men also used the excuse that if they do not eat the meat from the flesh they would all die and the men on the expedition wouldn t have enough energy to make it to Chile.