Examples Of Harold In A Matter Of Balance

Brooke Panhuyzen
Ms. Ashukian
ENG 4U1-50
March 13, 2023
An Impossible Decision
When placed in dangerous situations, people are often forced to make difficult decisions, sometimes at the risk of others. This was the case of Harold, from the short story, “A Matter of Balance”. While Harold’s decision may be seen as inhumane, when closely analyzed, it is clear that this choice can be justified, and was actually the best decision he could have made.
Had Harold helped the men, there was a very real risk for his safety. It is clear that the men were following him with the intention of harming him. While it is not obvious at first, it gets progressively more clear that they are going to hurt him. In fact, while they were following him, one of the

When Harold is being followed by the men, he figures that climbing down the rock is his best chance at survival, as he believes the men would not follow him without the right tools. In fact, he even thinks how “if they were [...] meaning him some harm, they would have great difficulty reaching him” (254). Harold did not climb down the rocks in an attempt to cause the men to get stuck or fall, but rather in an attempt to reach somewhere they would not be able to catch him. It is also important to note that this was an obviously unsafe situation. When Harold makes the decision to climb down the rock, he realizes how dangerous what he is about to do is. He recognizes that “there was little room for error [...] [since] even a twenty-foot fall [...] would certainly be fatal. Despite this, he knows he has no other choice and takes the risk to begin climbing. Not only does Harold assess the risk before he begins to climb, but he also knows that he has the proper equipment that could help him climb back up if need be. The bikers on the other hand waste no time following Harold down the rocks. Despite the fact that it is clearly a difficult climb, the men make the conscious decision to follow Harold down, a choice that ultimately will lead to their demise. It cannot be denied that Harold did not encourage the men in the slightest to climb down, and can therefore be argued that he has no

It is true that one's mental health cannot excuse immoral behavior or actions, it is still an incredibly important factor to consider when trying to understand why Harld made the choice to leave the men. It is revealed early on in the story that Harold struggles with his mental health, making him a very paranoid person. Harold begins to run away from the men before it is even made clear that they are a threat to him, proving his paranoia. Even he is aware of this, telling himself to “not [...] be foolish, not to be paranoid” (252) as he hides from the men, in an attempt to reassure himself. Not only is this paranoia the reason Harold was so wary of these men to begin with, it is also ultimately the reason he makes the decision to leave the men. It is known that Harold's wife was killed, and while little information is given, it is clear that it was a violent killing that majorly affected Harold. While hearing the cries of the men, “he [wonders] if his wife had screamed like that [...], alone in a dark parking lot, desperately fighting for her life, [while] he had been sitting in his study, reading" (243). This passage shows that Harold may feel like what happened to his wife is his fault. The emphasis on the fact that he had been reading while she was being killed proves this, and is most likely the reason for his paranoia. He does not want what happened to his