Monday, January 24, 2011
sacrifice
"Jordan can't swim and is terrified of water.
"But when the man went to rescue him, he said 'save my brother first'."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10699190
- Toowoomba Chronicle, Jan 12, 2011. "Tale of family sacrifice and tragedy"
This article was posted after flooding on Monday, January 10, 2011 in New Zealand.
The use of the words sacrifice and tragedy evoke emotion by themselves but the strength of these words dissipates as the article goes on. These quotes from the article are representative of the cognitive dissonance people face daily. It is fair to suggest that Jordan did the right thing. Faced with circumstances unforeseen, Jordan said what any human being, short of someone with a sociopathological disorder, would say because it would challenge how he viewed himself and change the way his family and community thought of him if had he instead exclaimed, "save me first". Even if this is what he might have been thinking, there would have been consequences or sacrifices, if you will, had he verbalized that thought. Would Jordan have made the same decision if he was aware that his own demise would be the outcome of his request to have his brother saved first? Can losing your life really be deemed a sacrifice if that was not the intent of the preceding action?
It is also important to note that Jordan said "first" which would imply that there was someone to be saved next.
Kenneth Burke’s Dramatism Pentad* addresses this issue as well. Burke’s critical technique questions why people do the things they do. Perhaps Jordan's fear motivated him to suggest his brother be saved first.
One can read this article with tear-filled eyes and attribute heroism to Jordan’s act, as is the intent of the writer. One could also read this article as I did, noticing that the real tragedy here is the act of a parent continuing to drive a vehicle into water 'up to their car wheels' thereby choosing to put the family in danger.
The article uses several emotionally heavy words and provokes readers to ask themselves what they might do if faced with the same decision.
My deepest sympathies go out to the families of those taken by this flood.
*Burke, Kenneth. 1945. A Grammar of Motives. Berkeley: U of California P, 1969
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After reading several other blogs, I decided to comment on this one because I respected your take on the article. It also really made me think about what I would do in a similar situation.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can't say that I completely agree. I think if anyone was facing cognitive dissonance it would have been the mother, not Jordan. After all she is responsible for driving the car directly into the water and then she doesn't even keep up with her cell phone. Especially during an emergency, I can't imagine the things going through her head.
I don't think the outcome of this event was going through Jordan's mind. I think he just wanted to be saved and he was truly worried for the safety of his little brother. For all he knew he was going to be rescued in a few short minutes.
It also boggles my mind that no one in the neighborhood helped except for a tiny old man. What happened to people, are we not suppose to help our neighbors anymore?
It was a very sad story and God Bless everyone that was involved or affected by the flood.