Sacrifices
Apr. 9th, 2004 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skieblueWell, I have no idea how this entry is going to go, but I have been wanting to do some thinking about sacrifices for some time now. In the course of my little mini essay, I will address the various sacrifices that different characters have made, and who those sacrifices were for. I will also briefly address the issue of sacrifice as part of someone's destiny. Anything after this into paragraph will be behind a cut, and there is no obligation to look at it. However, for any interested, series discussed will be: the Buffyverse (BtVS and AtS), Les Miserables, some historical and Biblical sources, various fantasy series, and the A&E Hornblower movies. (And this if slightly off topic, but the icon is a tribute of one of my favorite characters who died. And, I can't remember the name of the site where I got the icon. I'll get around to crediting my icons later this week, hopefully.)
The tradition of sacrifice has many roots in history and religion. In the Bible there are mentions of animals being sacrificed. In various mythologies there are human sacrifices. I remember learning in humanties about a Greek tragedy where a man sacrificed his daughter in order to get favorables winds. Then, his wife got even with him by murdering him in his bathtub. I can't remember the Greek names of the people involved in this story though. It was set sometime around the Trojan war. I remember that much.
Quite possibly the most famous historical sacrifice is the one that is being remembered in churches today. That was when Jesus died for our sins so that we could have redemption. That is shown in the Bible as the ultimate act of love. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who belives in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." That is not the only verse in John to talk about the connection between love and sacrifice. John 15: 12-13 says, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." That quote is from the passage describing the Last Supper, and anyone familar with the story knows what came next. The betrayal and death, for the sins of the world. The ultimate sacrifice given for the sake of all of us.
The focus on that this week, and actually for the past month, with The Passion being in theaters, has led to my thinking a lot about fictional characters who have sacrificed themselves, and what their sacrifice has accomplished.
About a year ago, there was an episode of Angel that was called "Sacrifice." This epsiode took place after the Fang Gang had been freed from Jasmine's influence, and were hiding in the sewers. While there, they encounter a monster from a dimension where Jasmine's influence had been felt. This monster, was preparing a spell to make Jasmine remember them. There are several short scenes between Wesley and this creature. In one of those scenes the monster keeps seeing, "We loved her first" referring to Jasmine, and when asked how his kind defined love, replied, "Same as all bodies, same as everywheres. Love is sacrifice." Well, those two shows have done a pretty good job of showing that quote, enough so, that I need to focus on the two shows for a little while.
The sacrifice that I tend to think of most often is Doyle's death. That did not really have an effect on me, even though I say he is one of my favorite characters. It is only lately that I have really begun to think about his death, and the fact that he did sacrifice himself. In the epsiode "Heroes" there was a group of villains that was trying to purify demon kind of any human blood, or something like that. I don't remember the exact words of their mission statement. Anyway, they had something that was kind of like a bomb, that was going to destroy several people. Someone needed to deal with this, but whoever did so, would die. So, Doyle sacrificed himself, and died. And, was very rarely mentioned again. I can think of only four times that he was mentioned after his death, which is, certainly, more mentions than another character got.
Another well-known sacrifice from that universe is Buffy's death in "The Gift." That was supposed to have been the end of that particular series, but they ended up bringing her back for two more seasons. Anyway, that sacrifice was set up earlier in the season when goes out into the desert and talks to some spirit in the form of the First Slayer. This spirit tells Buffy that death is her gift. Then, a few episodes later, she sacrifices herself to close a portal, because only her death or that of sister, Dawn, would have closed the portal. And, that was how death was her gift. But, that is something that I wonder about. I makes it seem like she had to die there. Like that was her destiny or something. I mean, obviously she did have a choice. She wasn't forced to jump off that scaffold. But, just the fact that she was told death was her gift makes it seem like her destiny was to die then. I can understand a character's choice to sacrifice themself for another character or for a cause, but I don't like it when it is indicated in advance that has to happen.
And then, moving on to more fandoms, what about sacrifices that don't seem to accomplish anything. For example, the death of the Friends of the ABC in Les Miserables. They died for a cause that was important to them, but their deaths accomplished nothing for that cause, and they were considered traitors. In the book version, Enjolras and Grantaire are killed by a firing squad, which was a way of executing crimanals, I believe. I mean, I like the barricade scenes, but when I look at those scenes from this point of view, I feel like they died for nothing. Something similar could be said about people who have died in some wars. I mean, getting outside of fandom for a minute, look at Vietnam. That was probably the most controversal war in American history. And, because of all the protest, when the soldiers returned home, they were not very popular. And what about the ones who died? They died for a cause that a lot of the country didn't even approve of? Or, what about the people over in Iraq, who died so our President could go on a wild goose chase for nuclear weapons that weren't there.
On another note, what about sacrifices, where the person does not realize they are making one, or makes one for a different cause than it ends up being for. For example, the Mithgar books, in the book called "Shadows of Doom" a group of Elves goes to try to rescue the Lady Laurelin from the evil Mage Modru. Three of these Elves are killed, and one escapes. Of the three that were killed, one of them, Vanidor, was captured and tortured for information, and died as a result of the torture. However, during this torture, Modru talked a lot about his plans, and due a gift that Elves have to send a final message at the time of their, Vanidor was able to send this information to his brother, Gildor. It was this information that gave the good guys crucial information, and I do not know how the Winter War would have gone if they had not had that information. So, in this case, Vanidor sacrificed himself as part of an attemp to rescue the lady, and ended up doing something more important for the war, but probably died not knowing how important it was. I'm not even sure how important it was. I have written some alternate universe fan fiction where he didn't die, but I have never managed to explain how he was spared, or how the good guys still got the information they did. So, I do not have the slightest doubt that his sacrifice was a necessary one, and of all the favorite characters I have lost, I find his death the easiest to deal with. I only hope that if I have to kill him in the Prophecy, I can make his death as much of a necesary sacrifice as it was in the real story.
However, there is one final kind of sacrifice that I do find very hard to deal with, and that is where a character's reputation or honor is sacrificed. I mentioned this briefly when I talked about Les Miserables, and mentioned that the students would have been considered traitors. I do have a theory that it is that fact that makes Enjolras' death so difficult for me to deal with. I can think of two other examples of this type of sacrifice. The first occurred during the third season of Angel after Wesley discovered the prophecy that said "the father will kill the son." Rather than telling anyone about this prophecy, he made the decision to take Connor away in order to protect him from Angel. However, everything went wrong, and the others ended up hating Wesley, and thinking that he betrayed them, and gave Connor to Holtz. So, in this case, he lost his place on the team, almost lost his life, and didn't even manage to save Connor. Because of the fact that he almost died, I do consider him to be one of the sacrifices, although people might disagree with me. However, in both the cases talked about in this paragraph the sacrifice accomplished nothing.
I still have one character I want to talk about. That character is Archie Kennedy from the A&E Hornblower movies. I'm not sure how coherant this paragraph will be, because I am still having a lot of trouble dealing with Archie's death. Anyway, Archie is another character that sacrificed his reputation in addition to his life. He was already dying from an injury he had received in battle, so he confessed to mutiny in order to save Horatio from being punished for the mutiny. Because of this confession, he was considered a traitor when he died, and most likely did not even have a proper funeral or anything. And, he was basically forgotten after his death. In the set of movies that takes place after he died, he is not even mentioned. However, I am not sure that I can call his death a sacrifice. I know that he sacrificed his reputation, but I do not know if he sacrificed his life. He was wounded before he confessed, but there are people who believe he would not have died, if he had not gotten up to go to the courtroom. Anyway, I have still having a hard time dealing with his death, so I cannot talk about this anymore. Oh, and my icon is a memorial to him. I have been waiting to use it, until after my friend had seen all the movies, but I could not wait any longer.
The tradition of sacrifice has many roots in history and religion. In the Bible there are mentions of animals being sacrificed. In various mythologies there are human sacrifices. I remember learning in humanties about a Greek tragedy where a man sacrificed his daughter in order to get favorables winds. Then, his wife got even with him by murdering him in his bathtub. I can't remember the Greek names of the people involved in this story though. It was set sometime around the Trojan war. I remember that much.
Quite possibly the most famous historical sacrifice is the one that is being remembered in churches today. That was when Jesus died for our sins so that we could have redemption. That is shown in the Bible as the ultimate act of love. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who belives in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." That is not the only verse in John to talk about the connection between love and sacrifice. John 15: 12-13 says, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." That quote is from the passage describing the Last Supper, and anyone familar with the story knows what came next. The betrayal and death, for the sins of the world. The ultimate sacrifice given for the sake of all of us.
The focus on that this week, and actually for the past month, with The Passion being in theaters, has led to my thinking a lot about fictional characters who have sacrificed themselves, and what their sacrifice has accomplished.
About a year ago, there was an episode of Angel that was called "Sacrifice." This epsiode took place after the Fang Gang had been freed from Jasmine's influence, and were hiding in the sewers. While there, they encounter a monster from a dimension where Jasmine's influence had been felt. This monster, was preparing a spell to make Jasmine remember them. There are several short scenes between Wesley and this creature. In one of those scenes the monster keeps seeing, "We loved her first" referring to Jasmine, and when asked how his kind defined love, replied, "Same as all bodies, same as everywheres. Love is sacrifice." Well, those two shows have done a pretty good job of showing that quote, enough so, that I need to focus on the two shows for a little while.
The sacrifice that I tend to think of most often is Doyle's death. That did not really have an effect on me, even though I say he is one of my favorite characters. It is only lately that I have really begun to think about his death, and the fact that he did sacrifice himself. In the epsiode "Heroes" there was a group of villains that was trying to purify demon kind of any human blood, or something like that. I don't remember the exact words of their mission statement. Anyway, they had something that was kind of like a bomb, that was going to destroy several people. Someone needed to deal with this, but whoever did so, would die. So, Doyle sacrificed himself, and died. And, was very rarely mentioned again. I can think of only four times that he was mentioned after his death, which is, certainly, more mentions than another character got.
Another well-known sacrifice from that universe is Buffy's death in "The Gift." That was supposed to have been the end of that particular series, but they ended up bringing her back for two more seasons. Anyway, that sacrifice was set up earlier in the season when goes out into the desert and talks to some spirit in the form of the First Slayer. This spirit tells Buffy that death is her gift. Then, a few episodes later, she sacrifices herself to close a portal, because only her death or that of sister, Dawn, would have closed the portal. And, that was how death was her gift. But, that is something that I wonder about. I makes it seem like she had to die there. Like that was her destiny or something. I mean, obviously she did have a choice. She wasn't forced to jump off that scaffold. But, just the fact that she was told death was her gift makes it seem like her destiny was to die then. I can understand a character's choice to sacrifice themself for another character or for a cause, but I don't like it when it is indicated in advance that has to happen.
And then, moving on to more fandoms, what about sacrifices that don't seem to accomplish anything. For example, the death of the Friends of the ABC in Les Miserables. They died for a cause that was important to them, but their deaths accomplished nothing for that cause, and they were considered traitors. In the book version, Enjolras and Grantaire are killed by a firing squad, which was a way of executing crimanals, I believe. I mean, I like the barricade scenes, but when I look at those scenes from this point of view, I feel like they died for nothing. Something similar could be said about people who have died in some wars. I mean, getting outside of fandom for a minute, look at Vietnam. That was probably the most controversal war in American history. And, because of all the protest, when the soldiers returned home, they were not very popular. And what about the ones who died? They died for a cause that a lot of the country didn't even approve of? Or, what about the people over in Iraq, who died so our President could go on a wild goose chase for nuclear weapons that weren't there.
On another note, what about sacrifices, where the person does not realize they are making one, or makes one for a different cause than it ends up being for. For example, the Mithgar books, in the book called "Shadows of Doom" a group of Elves goes to try to rescue the Lady Laurelin from the evil Mage Modru. Three of these Elves are killed, and one escapes. Of the three that were killed, one of them, Vanidor, was captured and tortured for information, and died as a result of the torture. However, during this torture, Modru talked a lot about his plans, and due a gift that Elves have to send a final message at the time of their, Vanidor was able to send this information to his brother, Gildor. It was this information that gave the good guys crucial information, and I do not know how the Winter War would have gone if they had not had that information. So, in this case, Vanidor sacrificed himself as part of an attemp to rescue the lady, and ended up doing something more important for the war, but probably died not knowing how important it was. I'm not even sure how important it was. I have written some alternate universe fan fiction where he didn't die, but I have never managed to explain how he was spared, or how the good guys still got the information they did. So, I do not have the slightest doubt that his sacrifice was a necessary one, and of all the favorite characters I have lost, I find his death the easiest to deal with. I only hope that if I have to kill him in the Prophecy, I can make his death as much of a necesary sacrifice as it was in the real story.
However, there is one final kind of sacrifice that I do find very hard to deal with, and that is where a character's reputation or honor is sacrificed. I mentioned this briefly when I talked about Les Miserables, and mentioned that the students would have been considered traitors. I do have a theory that it is that fact that makes Enjolras' death so difficult for me to deal with. I can think of two other examples of this type of sacrifice. The first occurred during the third season of Angel after Wesley discovered the prophecy that said "the father will kill the son." Rather than telling anyone about this prophecy, he made the decision to take Connor away in order to protect him from Angel. However, everything went wrong, and the others ended up hating Wesley, and thinking that he betrayed them, and gave Connor to Holtz. So, in this case, he lost his place on the team, almost lost his life, and didn't even manage to save Connor. Because of the fact that he almost died, I do consider him to be one of the sacrifices, although people might disagree with me. However, in both the cases talked about in this paragraph the sacrifice accomplished nothing.
I still have one character I want to talk about. That character is Archie Kennedy from the A&E Hornblower movies. I'm not sure how coherant this paragraph will be, because I am still having a lot of trouble dealing with Archie's death. Anyway, Archie is another character that sacrificed his reputation in addition to his life. He was already dying from an injury he had received in battle, so he confessed to mutiny in order to save Horatio from being punished for the mutiny. Because of this confession, he was considered a traitor when he died, and most likely did not even have a proper funeral or anything. And, he was basically forgotten after his death. In the set of movies that takes place after he died, he is not even mentioned. However, I am not sure that I can call his death a sacrifice. I know that he sacrificed his reputation, but I do not know if he sacrificed his life. He was wounded before he confessed, but there are people who believe he would not have died, if he had not gotten up to go to the courtroom. Anyway, I have still having a hard time dealing with his death, so I cannot talk about this anymore. Oh, and my icon is a memorial to him. I have been waiting to use it, until after my friend had seen all the movies, but I could not wait any longer.
