The Cellist of Sarajevo Responsibility Essay Example

In a situation where you are responsible for yourself and others it can often be difficult to pick the right path specifically when you are responsible for other's. Being only responsible for yourself you could often choose the wrong path because even if it would harm you it is only you that would be harmed. Yet, when responsible for other's you may choose the path that is safe for all or maybe it is only you that would be harmed not the people you are responsible for. It is easier for me to explain when putting it in reference to riding a horse, for example, when you are riding you are not just responsible for yourself but also for the animal underneath you. If there is a situation where I have to plunge myself into the ground to make sure whatever happens, happens safely I will do it no matter the damage to myself because I am also responsible for my horses safety. If the opportunity provides a way for both people to get out of it unharmed that would be the path to take but if it is between oneself or the person they are responsible for they are going to choose for themselves to be harmed.

When making a decision while being responsible for other lives around you, it could often be hard to choose a path to go down especially if it's one life or the other. Arrow, for example, a sniper in the Cellist of Sarajevo had to make a choice between letting the sniper live and take the lives of other innocent people that she was responsible for protecting or shooting him even if he was doing no harm at the moment. As relating to that may be hard you could put it in a way of wanting something to happen vs needing something to happen. Arrow wanted everybody to be able to live in peace, so she did not have to kill enemy snipers anymore, but she needed to kill them, so they would not kill other civilians. When we put down our old dog who was sick with a tumor we had to make the decision of what we wanted to happen and what needed to happen. Of course, we did not want him to go, and we would have always wanted him to be around, but he needed to be freed of the pain. Putting him down was what needed to happen because if we did what we wanted and kept him here he would be living in pain. Arrow did what needed to happen and shot the sniper because if she did what she wanted and put her gun down many other lives would be taken.

Despite the need to put those you are responsible for first there is always a little voice in the back of your head or devil on your shoulder telling you to put yourself first. It’s as simple as when you're caring for someone and there is only one cookie left and you really, really want it, but they ask you for it, you contemplate giving it to them or eating it yourself. In spite of that it can also be as difficult as their life or yours. Kennan, another character of the Cellist of Sarajevo, made a rash decision to leave his elderly neighbors bottles of water behind to save himself. Yet later he made the decision to go back for them as the moment he picked up the bottles he was responsible for her life as it was the water she needed to survive. He flicked the devil on his shoulder off and put her life in front of his. In the same case but in a different situation that was way less extreme, when it is snowy and gross outside and all I want to do is stay in bed where it is warm and cozy, the animals who live outside all year round still need to be fed. Even if the last thing I want to do is open that door and face the cold, I get all suited up in my snow pants, coat, mits, and toque and face the cold to make sure my furry friends have food. Taking responsibility for yourself and others also includes following through on promises and commitments. I took responsibility over my life by making myself accountable for my past actions and I stopped blaming others for my mistakes, in the process of that I also took on responsibility for my father because at the time he had just gotten out of hip surgery and needed help. He could not walk, so he could not get to his pain meds, water or food. I took the responsibility of commitment by taking care of him when he needed it during my process of taking responsibility over my actions. Dragan, the final character in Cellist of Sarajevo, took responsibility over his friend, Emina, and the woman in need of the meds Emina was delivering by fulfilling her commitment to deliver them. In the beginning it was not his responsibility but after Emina got shot he took it upon himself to be responsible for the woman and deliver her meds. In the process of being responsible for them he decided to take responsibility for himself by taking accountability for his actions in the past, and he stopped blaming others for things he could have fixed. Dragan took responsibility over his own life by taking responsibility over a stranger's well-being. In his book, Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway shows many different ways of how to take responsibility for yourself and others and the difficulties of this task, as well as the consequences if responsibility is not taken. Many civilians would have lost their lives and the characters would have had to live with the regret of not helping and the deaths to follow if responsibility is not taken. Taking responsibility for yourself and others is ultimately the hardest lesson life teaches us, but the reward and lessons learned in the end can be life altering.