Category: Sacrifices

Life does not come easily; everyone must sacrifice something. While some people sacrifice the bare minimum, other will sacrifice everything. These sacrifices are what truly define their character and moral values. Those who sacrifice the most are the ones that display these traits boldly and with the most passion. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the sacrifices Mr. Hooper makes to illuminate mankind’s values of altruism and love.

One of the biggest and most obvious sacrifices that Mr. Hooper makes is the severed relationship with his community. The people in the community treat Mr. Hooper like he has something to hide. There are many secrets that the community members hide from others. However, as Boone argues, “The irony of the veil, though, is that, although its function is the concealment of sin, it actually, in the minister’s case, functions to expose sin.” The community thinks Hooper has something to hide because of his veil, but he is, in fact, openly showing sin. This sin, however, is the community’s sin, which Hooper has taken onto himself for the community (Boone). People also no longer want to be around him anymore. When Hooper adorns the veil, he effectively becomes estranged from the community. After one of his sermons, “None… aspired to the honor of walking by their pastor’s side. Old Squire Saunders… neglected to invite Mr. Hooper to his table” (Hawthorne). Hooper’s spot in the community has been fiddled with. Instead of giving him large amounts of respect and time, the community stays away from him. In this way he has completely sacrificed his connection with the community. Mr. Hooper’s connection with the community has been destroyed. He sacrifices an important part of life, social interactions, in order to help this community.

Another with whom Mr. Hooper had to break bonds with was his fiance. The two of them loved each other dearly. However, Mr. Hooper knows his purpose on earth. Elizabeth confronts him and “loses a certain relationship with the person that she loves, only to gain a different relationship with him later” (Deines). One of the hardest things a person can do is lose their lover, and Mr. Hooper has lost a lover because of his veil. However, this sacrifice is for the betterment of the entire community. The gain of the “relationship with [Mr. Hooper] later” is also a betterment of Elizabeth. Mr. Hooper is adamant about his task. His discussion with Elizabeth reveals this. In this discussion, Mr. Hooper begs Elizabeth “It is but a mortal veil… Do not leave me behind this miserable obscurity for ever.” (Hawthorne). If Hooper ever would have taken off his veil, it would have been in this conversation. Hooper loves Elizabeth so dearly that it is a big sacrifice to make her suffer even slightly in order to keep to his cause for the greater good. Mr. Hooper has made one of the biggest sacrifices by giving up his lover for his cause. The taking on of the sins of the community by Mr. Hooper had to come first.

There is one relation which is the closest, the relation that a person has with themselves, and Mr. Hooper lacks this. He is not at home with himself. However, as Davis argues, “Hooper takes this drastic measure not for his own sake, but to show, through his example, what his parishioners seemingly could not otherwise see.” In this way, he is not sacrificing just to sacrifice; he does not want to be at unease with himself. He sacrifices to guide his parishioners to be better. The other side of the severed relation with himself is his aversion to mirrors and reflective surfaces. It can be seen that Mr. Hooper is frightened by himself, or at least uneasy. When Mr. Hooper would see a “glimpse of his figure in the looking-glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it overwhelmed all others. His frame shuddered, his lips grew white” (Hawthorne). He does not neglect his duty for his community because of his disunion with himself. He is clearly uneasy with the black veil that he has adorned. The fear of his own reflection reflects the power of his veil, and demonstrates the lengths a person will go to for their community. It is difficult to sever ties with one’s own self. The power of the veil allows for the accomplishment of this task, although no one would do this unless they had to, like Mr. Hooper did. His renouncement of his connection with himself exemplifies the characteristic of altruism.

Mr. Hooper has seemingly lost everything. He loses a fiance, a sense of ease with himself, and a good relation with the community. However, in reality he has just traded these things. He has made a sacrifice. When people make a sacrifice, they stay true to their purpose and sacrifice all that is necessary. But this is not a small sacrifice; this is a defining sacrifice. People who make defining sacrifices do not sacrifice just to sacrifice, they sacrifice for others. Mankind is not always nice, but when it comes down to it, people know what they will sacrifice. These sacrifices are what exhibit true human values, like altruism and love.

“I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people”

Maya Angelou

Do many people wonder what it truly takes to become a hero, sacrifice, or success? If a person doesn’t sacrifice anything for their loved ones how does that make them a hero? And that’s why sacrifice is the main trait of a hero. A sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of others’ considerations. As we see in the movies you can be the person that saves people’s lives with superpowers, Yes, but a hero can do so many other things besides that. Heroes come in different shapes and sizes. What do you think it takes to become a hero? Sacrifice is a trait that makes you a true hero by its many different outcomes: A small act of bravery can be enough, standing by your values, and maybe even affecting someone’s life and helping them overcome their obstacles by giving up something you value in order to help someone else.

As has been mentioned before, being a hero doesn’t mean having superpowers like flying or so. It comes from sacrifice. A small act of bravery can be enough, standing by your values, and maybe even affecting someone’s life and helping them overcome their obstacles by giving up something you value in order to help someone else. William Ayotte is a real-life hero. In the year 2013, he battled a polar bear that was savagely attacking a lady in Manitoba, Canada. ”Thank you will never be enough. He gave me life. It’s the most remarkable thing a person can do — risk his life for another human being, a stranger!’ said the victim of the incident, Erin Greene. William Ayotte really sacrificed his own life by battling a bear to save a woman’s life, a stranger! That made him a true hero. Another true hero we should not forget is James “Bud” Garvey. In November 2016, Garvey, 76 years of age at the time, rescued a man from a fiery wreck near Imler, Pa. ‘ When Bud got to the car, I knew he wasn’t going to stop until he got this man to safety. He did it almost automatically. I’m so proud of him.’, said buds wife. He could have died saving the man but risked his life for him, now that’s a hero. From experience, my mom was a hero to me, she would always be by my side at my lowest points in life and be there for me when I needed it most, and she would leave everything behind for me. Now you might say, sacrificing your life for someone else is wrong, but wait there. These women and men might have family and kids back home to take care of, and also living with the guilt of you having the chance to do something at the moment and never doing it will haunt you forever, so you do it for the sake of your loved ones. Missing the chances you have that could make you feel good forever and making your loved ones happy is not the best thing to do, take risks that’s what life’s about.

Now think, what does it take to become a hero? Sacrifice is a treat that makes you a true hero by its many different outcomes: A small act of bravery can be enough, standing by your values, and maybe even affecting someone’s life and helping them overcome their obstacles by giving up something you value in order to help someone else and seeing them smile and be grateful. In my opinion, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice is the key to being a true hero, it’s what makes you stand out from others, take risks, and be a hero when others can’t. Go by your values and not by the crowd, make someone’s day better, just a sentence you say can make someone’s day.

Did you know that “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi” are both written by the author O. Henry? They both have different storylines, characters, underlying themes, etc, they share some similarities too. As this essay goes on, these two stories will show how similar they are but also explain what their differences are as well. These two stories by O. Henry show that even if they have different storylines, they are similar in the sense that they carry O Henry’s trademark including poor, working-class, character, a humorous tone, realistic detail, and a surprise and twist ending but also differentiating in underlying themes, relationships and which sacrifice is greater.

Let’s start with the similarities. Talking about “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi”, they both have themes of sacrifices. In “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi”, the characters in each story have traits of love, sympathy, sacrifice and reciprocation for each other. O. Henry also displays humor in both stories like for example, In “The Gift of the Magi”, Della has a funny way of talking explaining her finances, “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies….Pennies saved one and two and time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man…” In “The Last Leaf” humor is shown as “Your little lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?….. Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about the twice-a man for instance?” Finally, both stories at the end on a positive note. In “The Gift of the Magi” the couple realizes that their love is the best gift of all and in “The Last Leaf”, Behrman sacrifices his life so Johnsy can be cured. In conclusion, these two short stories are the same in many ways, but they are also different in many ways too.

Although both stories have many similarities to count, there are differences as well. Starting with the overall themes. These two stories have central themes of sacrifice, one story is tiny and the other is kind of momentous. In “The Gift of the Magi”, Della sacrifices her physical beauty (cutting her hair) so she can buy a good enough gift for her lover, Jim. In “The Last Leaf”, Behrman sacrifices his LIFE so Johnsy can recover from pneumonia (painting the leaf on the tree). Another difference is the minor underlying themes. “The Last Leaf” has the underlying theme of look aren’t everything. A quote supporting this is, He walked around touching one person here and another there with his icy fingers“. This quote symbolizes Behrman can be icy and careless but in the end, gives up his life for Johnsy’s. On the other hand, ” The Gift of the Magi” has also an underlying meaning of money does not buy happiness, love, etc. A quote supporting this is, “…of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house”. This quote explains how they wasted their sacrifices for giving gifts when the most important gift of all is their undying and unconditional love for each other. Finally, the relationships in each story are different. In “The Gift of the Magi”, Della and Jim are married. Quotes like, “I don’t think there’s anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less” and “But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called “Jim” and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della, which is all very good”.

On the contrary, in “The Last Leaf”, Sue and Joanna or “Johnsy” are best friends. Quotes like, “There they discovered that they liked the same kind of art, the same kind of food, and the same kind of clothes” and “Dear, dear!” said Sue, leaning her worn face down to the pillow, “Think of me, if you won’t think of yourself. What would I do?” But Johnsy did not answer “…..The fancy seemed to possess her more strongly as one by one the ties that bound her to friendship and earth were loosed”. Concluding, looking deeper into both stories, we can see how there as many differences as similarities.

Overall, both “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi” contain many great similarities. Similarities like themes of sacrifices and irony to having tones of humor. These two stories by O. Henry show that even if they have different storylines, they are similar in the sense that they carry O Henry’s trademark including poor, working-class, character, a humorous tone, realistic detail, and a surprise and twist ending but also differentiating in underlying themes, relationships and which sacrifice is greater.