“I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me. Had I considered my prospects in the light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten. But I don’t recall that I had a single thought during those first minutes of relative safety. I didn’t even notice daybreak. I held on to the oar, I just held on, God only knows why.” (107)
This is obviously an extremely unlikely situation in reality. It’s so extreme that the picture it paints is almost comical. But I wonder, in a true moment of devastation, do we stop thinking and simply act on immediate necessity?
