The English Patient-4

  Relating to the pecha kucha presentation I had with my group members, I had time to think more deeply on the theme we chose. The question was "Can people be completely altruistic?" I think it is rare and difficult, but it is still possible. Hana in the novel is an easy example. Even after the war, she refuses to move to a bigger hospital but decides to stay in a destroyed nunnery to take care of a man who can barely move his body. She does not even hesitate to listen to Caravaggio when he also advises her to leave the place for the sake of her. Another example will be our parents. Ever since they gave us birth, they have taken care of us in all aspects without wanting compensation. It is parents who stay around us when we are sick and it is parents who give us wise advice when we are in trouble. Parents educate us and always wish us to become successful, but they never require us to pay back for what we have received.
  However, being completely altruistic is not easy. Only minority of people and parents care about people without expecting rewards. Also, if we think about those few people in different aspects, they are also gaining something from their actions, such as satisfaction and happiness. Probably these people help others because they can feel happy and proud by doing that. Hana, too, may be helping the English patient because she can feel needed by the presence of him. The patient cannot live even one day by himself. Therefore, I think there is not the right answer for this simple and also complex philosophical question.