Cody Responsibility

In the Face of Human Tragedy

Human tragedy, and in this case death, is inevitable; we cannot avoid it and we individually respond in certain ways. What then, is our responsibility in the face of tragedy? First let me outline a scenario that happened in my life. In the summer before my junior year of high school, my grandpa quickly fell ill. At first glance nobody quite knew why but we knew it was bad. He continued to get more and more sick, and eventually he passed away at the ripe age of 68. Tragedy comes in all shapes and sizes and most of the time comes out of the blue. That being said, let’s find out what our responsibilities can include. 

Probably the most important thing to me in the face of tragedy is to remember. Remember the occurrences, remember the feelings, remember the thoughts. The most common phrase associated with the 9/11 tragedy is “Never Forget.” When bad things happen to us we have a tendency as humans to want to stuff the memory away and try to forget the bad feelings. I feel it is a responsibility for us as people to not only remember the events that happen in our lives that we deem as tragic, but to also carry on in memory of that person or those people or those things or places that we may be mourning for. To go back on my tragic experience of losing my grandfather too quickly; it may, at times be something i want to forget, for him to not remember who i am, to watch him suffer in pain, etc. but being able to remember our feelings and thoughts, and the experience as a whole has not only effected my life personally but as a family we have been able to grow closer in unison around the memory of him. How could that happen if we do as we might first think and try to shroud out the bad? 

Another responsibility that i’d like to discuss that we have in the face of tragedy is to have sympathy. Sometimes we experience tragedy that we aren’t even directly related to. We may see bad things happening on TV or it may happen to someone we know. Sometimes i feel that when something isn’t happening to us we seem not to care. I think we all have a duty to be sympathetic in all cases of tragedy. If we are able to have an impact and to reach out to someone in need in one way or another, to do it. We never know who may need someone to listen, someone to feel sorry. 

In any way you look at tragedy, whether tragedies of your own life, or tragedies you may see or hear about, we all have responsibilities in the face of it. From simply remembering and carrying on in memory, to having sympathy and being there for those in need. As we find our responsibility during a tragic event, and carry through what needs to be done, then we find positives and growth from what seems so earth shattering in the midst of tragedy.