"The Filipino and the Drunkard"

In the story “The Filipino and the Drunkard”, written by William Saroyan I believe that the society or the people on the boat are the people who are the most responsible for what happened. It was a hard situation and stepping up to make a difference was hard to do. I can understand how the people on the boat did nothing but I believe that in the end it was there fault the drunkard was killed.

I believe that if the crowd had stepped up to take their place like they should have done this would have never happened. In this particular situation, the boy was literally helpless and could not fend for himself. He needed someone to come to his rescue and no one did. He fought back in what ever way that he possibly could. I don’t believe that killing the drunkard was right but I think that he chose to do that because he felt that was his only option. No one was being the bigger person to step up and help him so he helped himself. If I had been on the boat ride I would like to say that I would have gotten the drunk caught and captured, but I would probably have been caught up in the moment and not have had enough courage to step out. I know this position is wrong, but its reality. I think any bystander in that situation would have no idea what to do so they would just wait for someone else to step up.

Another situation where people tend to just stand by and let things happen is with beatings. Many children or spouses are verbally and physically abused by their parents or spouses and people know, but never tell. Those people’s lives are at risk and society tries to pretend as though it does not happen. Individuals in the society are responsible for letting authorities know. If they don’t they are playing a part of the hurting. If you were to know something and would not tell, you are indeed just as guilty as the person who was doing the beating. Other events around the world include abortions, theft, beating, bullying, cheating, and affairs. All of these events are life altering and the people who know won’t tell. What has our society come to where a person must virtually be killed for someone to step up or realize that something must be done? This is the sad reality of the world which we live in. We need to be aware of the hurting people in the world and step up whenever we see something like this happen, even if it means bad circumstances for us.