Can self-sacrifice lead to one's ultimate demise?
My summer reading book, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, took me on a journey through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Earth. This journey involved the two main characters, a son and his father. Every page bled with the father's self-sacrifice, so raw and heart-wrenching. Everything the man did was on his son's behalf; hunting for food, killing possible predators, and staying up to keep a fire burning despite his worsening tuberculosis. This example of self-sacrifice made me question the way I was living my life: If the world was crumbling around me, would I have what it takes to support myself and save others?
A second example of self-sacrifice is a man I heard about in school who, instead of saving himself from the freezing water after a plane crash, helped others to safety. This man had two choices: 1. He could save himself or 2. He could save others. This man chose to save others, something that most people would never even think twice about. He didn't save others to reap the rewards of being a "hero". Rather, he saw an opportunity to show love and compassion, and with his actions, he made a significant impact on a countless number of people.
Jesus dying on the cross for our sins is a more widely-known example of self-sacrifice. He was willing to be beaten, humiliated, and nailed to a cross by his starved limbs so we could one day be welcomed into his kingdom.
These selfless people were aware of what was to come from their bravery. After pondering this question, I've come to believe that someone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for another is not worried about their so-called demise. They put others first without thinking about themselves or their needs or their possible death. Helping or even saving others makes these incredible people's lives worth living. Or for us, their actions make their lives worth celebrating.
Nice examples from The Road. Your question might hinge upon how "one's own demise" is defined. If defined by the person who makes the sacrifice, as you mention, "demise" might not figure into the equation.
ReplyDeleteKing Lear; Realization Leads to Destruction
ReplyDeleteCan self-sacrifice lead to one’s ultimate demise?
In King Lear, there seems to be a lack of self-sacrifice because of selfishness and a lust for power. Lear decides to step down from the throne as king and split up his territory between his three daughters, one of whom, Cordelia, is his favorite. He tells each of his daughters that, in order to attain some of the land, they must confess their love and appreciation for him in front of his court. His two eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, trick Lear with their forced and artificial flattery, trying for the largest piece of land. When Cordelia steps in front of her father, she is honest and plain. She replies that she is unable to “heave her heart into her mouth”, meaning that her love for her father surpasses any explanation and putting these feelings into words would be impossible. Lear, unable to understand his only daughter who truly loves him, is embarrassed and banishes Cordelia, sending her away to France with her new husband. As Lear’s power begins to diminish and he is disrespected by the daughters that once confessed their love for him, he realizes his mistake and questions his blindness. Rather than Lear’s ultimate demise coming from self-sacrifice, it stems from his reflection and realization of his mistakes. By this time, it is too late for Lear to patch his kingdom and his family back together. Although self-sacrifice and realizations can lead to one’s ultimate demise, the latter is more mentally painful. Like in Lear’s case, upon awareness of his daughters’ trickery and his cruel attitude towards Cordelia, this realization causes pain and regret because the past is irreversible. Also, realizing one’s fault and the havoc that resulted from one’s actions causes not only eventual physical demise, but more mental demise than self-sacrifice is capable of causing.
What of Kent and Edgar's self-sacrifice? Why are these two, the paragons of selflessness, disguised?
ReplyDeleteCrime and Punishment
ReplyDeleteCan Self-Sacrifice Lead to One’s Ultimate Demise?
Crime and Punishment is the first novel that I’ve read this year where this big question does not prove to be true. In this book, rather, self-sacrifice and selflessness bear existence, while selfishness leads to one’s demise. With regards to Raskolnikov, this demise is psychological rather than physical, unlike in previous novels read this semester. Throughout the book, Raskolnikov thinks solely of himself and his own interests; the murder of Alyona and Lizaveta, Rodya’s forbidding of the marriage between Dunya and Luzhin, and his justification of the murders. He sees himself as a “superman”, untouchable by the law and punishment and superior to mankind. His inability throughout most of the plot to recognize his equality to ordinary people constitutes his selfishness; pushing loved ones away for fear that they may destroy his superiority. Therefore, Rodya suffers immensely from his alienation from society as well as his separation from his family. If not for Sonya, Raskolnikov would have experienced psychological, possibly physical demise. Unlike Rodya, Sonya is a selfless character, willing to sacrifice anything for the good of others. She lowers herself to prostitution in order to take care of her family, never once complaining of their state of destitution. Sacrificing herself for Rodya, she travels with him to Siberia, helping him cope with his time in prison and helping him on the road to redemption. By her self-sacrifice, she is able to live a fuller life, also helping others seek a happier existence.
Nice posting--I, too, see Sonya as the most selfless, Christ-like character.
ReplyDeleteThe Stranger
ReplyDeleteCan self-sacrifice lead to one’s ultimate demise?
In The Stranger, Meursault, the main character, seals his fate when he allows the hot sun to irritate him to the point of murder. During the time that he shoots the Arab, it doesn’t seem like there is a clear motive or purpose for the act beyond impulse. When placed in prison, Meursault must part with many things that he loves and depends on, such as the beauty of nature and cigarettes, but he is able to cope. By the way he describes his time in a prison cell, one would assume he was talking about his own home. Unlike any other prisoner, Meursault makes the most of his confinement by remembering that “Maman used to say that you can always find something to be happy about” (113). He would watch the sky from his window and notice the change of color when nightfall hit. By murdering the Arab, Meursault sacrificed himself in a sense; he received the death penalty, causing his physical demise. This physical death and sacrifice lead to Meursault’s psychological and mental blooming, opening himself “to the gentle indifference of the world” (122). With the abrupt ending of his physical life, he felt free, just as Maman had felt being so close to her death. For the first time in the book, the reader senses liberation and happiness from Meursault; the irony being that in order to feel less alone and happy, Meursault was facing execution. Upon sirens announcing the time of his death, Meursault states that “I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again” (123). By dying physically, Meursault experiences a mental rebirth.
Nice observation of the "rebirth" M encounters upon his full acknowledgement and "ownership" of his impending physical death.
ReplyDeleteBeloved
ReplyDeleteCan self-sacrifice lead to one’s ultimate demise?
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, a mother kills her daughter to “save” her from being hurt or killed by slaveholders. Sethe, the mother, attempts to “out hurt” the hurters and, because of her deep love for her daughter, she tries to free her from future pain. At the time, I’m not sure if Sethe knew how this decision would affect her later in life, but she was only thinking of her daughter Beloved, not of herself. When Beloved returns years later as the ghost of a young woman, Sethe is overtaken by remorse, regret, and love; a love that was “too thick” (193). Beloved brings up the murder and pushes guilt upon Sethe, who gives Beloved all her attention to make it up to her. Sethe spends so much time with Beloved that she loses her job and is unable to feed herself, her daughter Denver, or Beloved. Beloved, serving as a physical representation of the past (the murder and slavery), exhausts Sethe and not only does she become starved, she is bedridden and neglects Denver. Sethe sacrifices her time, money, and attention for Beloved as a form of repentance and it eventually leads to Sethe’s near death. Only when Beloved runs away can Sethe recuperate and move on from her past. Sethe sacrifices Beloved for what she thought was for Beloved’s own good. This leads to Sethe’s self-sacrifice for Beloved and her almost demise. Like in other novels we’ve read this year, Sethe’s self-sacrifice isn’t selfless or from her heart; it is done out of guilt so she can feel better and stop the past from haunting her.
Slaughterhouse-Five
ReplyDeleteCan self-sacrifice lead to one’s ultimate demise?
In Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim, the main character, is an American soldier and prisoner of war. He suffers many hardships on the battlefront such as being captured and held as a prisoner of war and the bombing of Dresden. Pilgrim sacrifices his time and energy for the sake of his country, and, eventually, his sanity. Pilgrim becomes “unstuck in time”, unable to live life freely and chronologically. Being “unstuck in time” may actually refer to being unstuck in reality, but to Billy, he is a time-traveler. Billy is involved in a plane crash and experiences major head and brain injuries, which may have been the cause of his imaginative time-traveling adventures. During these adventures, he is abducted by the Tralfamadorian aliens, locked in their zoo millions of miles away from planet Earth, and learns the truth about free-will and time; free-will does not exist simply because every moment is structured a specific and rigid way. Every moment happens the way it was intended to and continues to happen in the past, present and future. Billy Pilgrim sacrifices himself for his country, which leads to his mental demise; he spends his last years striving to educate the human population about his newfound, Tralfamadorian knowledge and refuses to stop his own murder because that moment was structured just so.