Argument: Should the narrator of ”The Seventh man” forgive himself for his failure to save k.

          The narrator of the seventh man should forgive himself for his failure to save k. This is because everyone at some point of their lives make mistakes that lead to failure. He should punish himself for the rest of his life for something he couldn't do. At time when the incident happened he was really young and didn't know what to do. He had the option of either saving himself or to try to save his best friend k, but in the act he could of died. Saving others lives can put your life at risks, even professionals fail to rescue others just like the quote says “However, arguments against changing for rescue workers have lost their own lives saving others.”
         Some will say that the narrator should have not forgiven himself for the failure to save k, because he had the opportunity to save him but he didn't take the chance and the time to do so.“I told myself to run over to k., grab hold of him and get out of there... I found myself running the other way.” The seventh man could not forgive himself in the beginning but as he got older he learned to forgive himself. If he would of never forgiven himself he would of probably gone crazy.For example, he says  “ I stayed away from school for weeks. I hardly ate a thing and spent each day in bed staring at the ceiling.” He needed to forgive himself in order overcome the fear he had. “Im sure was fear, a fear, so overpowering it took my voice away...” Everyone needs to forgive themselves at one point in their life in order to overcome substances that are in the way of living your life. The seventh man had fear all those years, which haunted him down for almost all his life and which stopped him from living a normal life. He had to forgive himself because, he couldn't of  just be living, feeling remorse his entire life, which  he did for a long time but then he realized he was wrong and started living life.
           Lastly, my point is that we can not let things that happened in the past effect our future. We have to eventually forgive ourselves, even if it's the hardest thing to do. “ When you forgive, you in no way change the past- but you sure do change the future.” - Bernard Metzer
The seventh man realized that he was wrong after a long period of time and that he needed to get rid of the guilt he had inside. “I might have been making terrible mistakes all those years.” We have all made mistakes, but we can't just let those mistakes keep us from living unto the future, we have to progress and get through It. So, the seventh man should and did forgive himself for his failure of saving his best friend k, even though it took him a long period of time.