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Summary Of The Seventh Man By Nancy Sherman

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In “The Seventh Man”, the narrator feels guilty for being unable to save his friend K. from an incoming wave. He believes that he should have been able to get to him in time for him to live and that he did not try hard enough to keep him alive. I believe that he should forgive himself for his actions, or lack thereof, since he can not go back in time to change what happened.

Nancy Sherman states in “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” that many survivors feel guilty for surviving a traumatic event when other innocent people have not or not being able to save a comrade. This guilt is what she calls ‘survivor guilt’. The narrator of “The Seventh Man” describes feeling as though he could have done more, as stated in paragraph 41: “I knew that I could have saved K. if I had tried. . . It always seemed to me that I could have made it.” He feels that there was more that he could have …show more content…

In paragraph 45 in “The Seventh Man”, the narrator states that he finished elementary school in Nagano, which means that when he left, he had yet to finish elementary school. In an article about child PTSD published by the US Department of Veteran Affairs, children may show or feel “Fear, worry, sadness, anger, feeling alone and apart from others, feeling as if people are looking down on them, low self-worth, and not being able to trust others” after a traumatic event. KidsHeatlh also published an article on the subject, stating that children may “blame oneself for the traumatic event, have upsetting dreams or nightmares, and avoid activities, places, or people that are reminders of the event.” Many of these symptoms relate to what the narrator describes feeling, which can help the reader infer that the narrator may feel guilty because he has a case of child PTSD. The narrator should not blame himself for past events, as he was a child with a fragile mind and childlike

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In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” by Nancy Sherman, one has done no wrong, but still has guilt, even in situations that are unexpected, as this happens way too much, and that those who have done wrongdoing should be feeling guilty. She states, “We often take responsibility in a way that goes beyond what we can reasonably be held responsible for. And we feel the guilt that comes with that sense of responsibility. Nietzsche is the modern philosopher who well understood this phenomenon: “Das schlechte Gewissen,” (literally, “bad conscience”)-his term for the consciousness of guilt where one has done no wrong, doesn’t grow in the soil where we would most expect it, he argued, such as in prisons where there are actually “guilty” parties who should feel remorse for wrongdoing”(Sherman 154). Illustrating, this proves that we take the responsibility for actions that we did not do, and should not feel any remorse, but that the people who have done wrongdoing, should have this feeling of guilt.

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