don't throw the raven overboard

The gemara (San 108b) relates that the raven had an iron clad argument to object to being sent out by Noach (parenthetically: the Brisker Rav asks what was the point of sending out the raven and the dove to check if there was dry land?  Even after he found that there was dry land and the ark made landfall, Noach did not leave the teivah until he had a tzivuy from Hashem to do so?):

וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת הָעֹרֵב״, אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: תְּשׁוּבָה נִיצַּחַת הֱשִׁיבוֹ עוֹרֵב לְנֹחַ. אָמַר לוֹ: רַבְּךָ שׂוֹנְאֵנִי וְאַתָּה שְׂנֵאתָנִי. רַבְּךָ שׂוֹנְאֵנִי – מִן הַטְּהוֹרִין שִׁבְעָה, מִן הַטְּמֵאִים שְׁנַיִם, וְאַתָּה שְׂנֵאתָנִי – שֶׁאַתָּה מַנִּיחַ מִמִּין שִׁבְעָה וְשׁוֹלֵחַ מִמִּין שְׁנַיִם. אִם פּוֹגֵעַ בִּי שַׂר חַמָּה אוֹ שַׂר צִנָּה, לֹא נִמְצָא עוֹלָם חָסֵר בְּרִיָּה אַחַת? אוֹ שֶׁמָּא לְאִשְׁתִּי אַתָּה צָרִיךְ

אָמַר לוֹ: רָשָׁע! בַּמּוּתָּר לִי נֶאֱסַר לִי, בַּנֶּאֱסָר לִי לֹא כׇּל שֶׁכֵּן?

How does Noach's response address the complaint of the raven?  How did Noach justify sending it out when there was no other raven left for its mate?  Maharasha comments as follows:

מזה דרשו שראה נח תשובתו הנצחת ...ואמר ליה נח רשע וכו' קראו רשע על שעבר על מצות קונו לשמש בתיבה וז"ש במותר לי נאסר בתיבה בנאסר לי עם אשתך לא כל שכן שלא אעבור על מצות קוני והיה לו זה קצת תשובתו דלכך שלחתיך לפי שאתה רשע ושמשת בתיבה ואין לחוש עליך כמו על שאר העופות גם כי אשתך הרה ממך ונמצא שאין עולם חסר בריה ובבריות אחרות שלא שמשו יש לחוש על כך שיהיה חסר במינם

Simple pshat in Maharasha is that Noach was telling the ravan that since he is a rasha, he deserves to be gotten rid of and that's why he is kicking him overboard.

R' Mordechai Kukis (R"Y of Porat Yosef) quotes his son, R' Uriel, in a one line footnote here, who says a brilliant pshat that flips the gemara and Maharasha on its head.  The ravan at this point had nothing going for it. By rights, it had lost its "zechus ha'kiyum," it had forfeited whatever merit it had to be saved in the ark and be spared the plight of all the other creatures.  But Noach wasn't trying to get rid of him.  Aderaba, Noach was throwing the raven a life preserver!  Why did Noach send out the raven?  Because he was giving the raven something positive to do that would benefit everyone -- go out a see if there is dry land and food -- so that the raven could restore that "zechus ha'kiyum" and prove that it still has value, it still deserves a chance to live, despite the fact that it had sinned.  

Chazal are not telling us Dr Doolittle stories. Chazal are trying to teach us a lesson for our own behavior. When someone has done wrong, the solution is not necessarily to throw them overboard. Sometimes the solution is to give them an avenue to build themselves up again, find a way for them to restore their sense of self worth and their sense of brining value within the community.