Francesco Schettino, the infamous captain of the Italian luxury cruise liner which partially sank five days ago is being charged with abandoning ship, an offense in maritime law which has an immediate sentence of 12 years.

This man is hated for leaving the sinking ship before most of the passengers were able to get off. In this recording, a coast guard can be heard yelling at him to get back onto the ship and report how many people are left on board. Ultimately, Schettino reached shore and got away on a taxi. Now he is under siege for being without moral.

Why must everyone expect this man to act as romantic hero from a Hollywood feature? Of course it was his duty to remain on board and safeguard the passage of passengers out of this ship, but if the fears of a man overcome his will to do good, is that a question of morale? The media has been throwing out this man’s personal stories to account for his lack of morals, such as hie promiscuous past, and they judge him by his appearance for being a bad person. 

The only thing Schettino should be repremanded for is abandoning his lawful duty of captain and not for abandoning expected human nature. We all have our fears and our bravery. Our actions depend on out environment. Sitting at home, we can spit at Schettino for being a coward, but in a situation where the ground below you is sinking into the ocean, we might not be so heroic. A fearful man is not a lesser man for there is fear within us all.