Sacrifice In The Good Lie

The dictionary meaning is: continue to live or exist, esp. in spite of danger or hardship and that’s important because Sugar and her mother are trying to live and stay existing because they don’t have much to live so they have to try to keep surviving. When I think of this word I think of food, water and the wilderness.

Sacrifice is “an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else.” -Anonymous. The Outsiders, by H.E Hinton is a book where Ponyboy and friends live life in a gang. You can see sacrifices being made in order for them to better the lives of each other. One theme evident in the novel is people make sacrifices for the things they care about.

Even though some sacrafices are not neccesary, they hardest ones are made for those who you love. Sacrifice plays a major role as one of the main themes in the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Sacrifices were made for the mothers and daughters which were fueled by love and honor, such as when An-Mei sacrificed her own flesh and blood for her dying mother, Suyuan giving up her children so they could live a happy life, and An-Mei risking her life and sacrificing a sapphire ring from her mother. These were all made for the sake of somebody else's good and for love of somebody else.

“To live,” and “to be living,” are two very different ideas. Everyone is living, everyone breathes air, drinks water, and eats food, but “to live,” one has to do something that they feel passionate about, no matter what the cost is, even while facing death. In the book Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, brings alive a group of people known as the “Traveling Symphony,” in a world destroyed by a pandemic called the Georgian flu. The people in this group live by a quote, “Survival is insufficient.” As the story moves along, readers can see that this phrase becomes relevant to all of the main characters in the book.

Sacrifice is seen throughout the Les Miserables, because it is a prominent part of human living. Sacrifice is greater in those who have less. Hugo conveys sacrifice through the characters Jean Valjean and Fantine, showing how they sacrificed in order to gain a better life, self-forgiveness

Jesus, always thinking of others and sacrificing his life. When Jesus walked the Earth, he did everything thing he could to assist others. Never was he selfish. Matty, the protagonist in Lois Lowry’s Messenger, was like this. Matty put everyone and everything before himself. Matty gives his life to heal everyone and everything in Village. In Lois Lowry’s Messenger, Selflessness leads to the ultimate sacrifice when Matty goes to get Kira through thickening Forest, and when Village has taken a turn for the worse.

Have you ever felt that you had to sacrifice yourself or something that was important to you to get something else? Throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner Amir the main character has to sacrifice many things. Amir and Hassan are best friends but Hassan is a servant to Amir. Baba treats Hassan just like Amir. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba”(Hosseini 77). “The scene in which Hassan gets raped by Assef and Amir runs away from the alley where it is taking place. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, is important because Hosseini uses it to establish that sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself to get something else by/through sometimes sacrificing things is necessary but painful .”

Survival is living on the hope that better things are yet to come in your life. Right now in our country people survive because of hope and the belief that people are good and they will help them out. People survive when they are homeless on the streets only because of the people who are good at heart and give them food or money to buy clothing for the winter. Gerta survived because of her family and friends. Anne Frank survived because she believed that “Despite all the evil going on in the world I still believe that all people are good at heart.”

In S.E. Hinton's classic, drama filled novel, The Outsiders, the book tells of 2 rival gangs, the Greasers and the Socials, and how they share their differences in ways of violence, disrespect and hatred towards one another based on their values and wealth. A set of tough-looking teens who live in the less fortunate part of town, the Greasers, go up against the Socs, the rich, jet set group of teens who prey on the Greasers. Throughout the story, both gangs display morals that are diverse in about every way possible. Knowing what could be at stake, the Greasers demonstrate an immense amount of self-sacrifice as they put their "brothers" before themselves. Darrel Curtis, the oldest of the three brothers, displays a tremendous volume of self-sacrifice.

In the melodramatic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses the theme sacrifice. He shows that sacrifice is important in his story because some of his characters must give up their lives for another. Miss Pross dedicates herself to Lucie because she wants Lucie to have a brighter future than she did. Then, out of his love and devotion for Lucie Manette, Sydney Carton sacrifices his life to save a life she loves. The sacrifices Miss Pross and Sydney Carton make express that mankind will give everything for what they love and believe in.

There is a difference between output and outcome. Allow me to explain. I have survived open heart surgery, twice, one of which I woke up during. I have also survived an infection of the bloodstream, secondary to an infection of the heart. I was abused as a child, lost both parents at the young age of fourteen, and have slept several nights in my car due to homelessness. Each of these are circumstances produced one thing - a goal to survive.

Ellie Walton Tanner Pre AP English 10 Period 6 April 29, 2015 A Tale of Two Cities Final Essay “‘I see him...bringing a boy of my name...fair to look upon with not a trace of this day’s disfigurement--- and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and faltering voice (Dickens 380).’”

“Dictionary.com” defines survival as an aspect of “remaining alive, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances” . This quote specifies that when one’s under significant circumstances, survival will become a priority. This is a theme that is very important in both novels studied this year, “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel, and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. This means that staying alive will become a task. People can depend on survival and become desperate to do anything for life.

Survival is being able to endure and live through challenges that may wear you down (mentally or physically), and there are several ways of showing survival. “The Story of Keesh,” by Jack London, depicts survival through a harsh setting. “The Five People You Meet In Heaven,” by Mitch Albom, depicts survival through character development. In sum, the idea of survival is shown in literature through these two different ways.

“Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue ship within a yard of Hell.” (Zoppelt) While this seems like a bold and daring statement for one to make nonetheless it was the declaration of C.T. Studd. We live in a time where such a bold proclamation would be considered radical or extreme. Who would want to live with the ridicule incurred by such a statement? Who is really going to lay their body at the gates of hell and permit no one to pass? In this day and age the answer may be no one. However, it is the exact position God has called each of us who call upon Him to put ourselves in. You may be alone in your stand here on earth, but you have all of heaven rallied behind you sounding the victory cry.