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Examples Of Sacrifice In Ethan Frome

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If you have sacrificed, you have suffered. The fundamental parts of the human condition is that everyone has an equal capacity to suffer. Whether It’d be sacrificing yourself for perceived security, sacrificing your happiness in order to keep someone safe, or suffer with someone and make the ultimate sacrifice. All humans are ultimately equal with the ability to lose, sacrifice, and suffer. In Ethan Frome, Ethan sacrifices his familiar lifestyle to be with Mattie. In Age of Innocence, Archer longs to be with Ellen. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator sacrifices her decision making in order for perceived security. In A Pair of Silk Stockings, Mrs. Sommers gives up her responsibilities for some pursuit of happiness. In all these stories there is a universal characteristic of suffering and sacrifice. All humans can suffer equally and ultimately sacrifice to help others, even if it hurts themselves. …show more content…

In Age of Innocence, Archer sacrifices potentially starting a new life with Ellen in order to protect his wife. Archer, when “he thought of Ellen, [she’d] become the complete vision of all that he had missed. [He realized, He was] dead.”Archer sacrificed himself and his potential future with Ellen in order to stay with his newly formed family. In Ethan Frome, Ethan sacrifices economic stability in order to take care of his wife Zeena.“He had always wanted to be an engineer, and to live in towns, where there were lectures[…]with a smart wife like Zeena.[But Ethan soon realized] her skill as a nurse had been acquired by the absorbed observation of her own symptoms.” Ethan gave up his opportunity to succeed in order to help his wife who was in great need. He sacrificed his future for Zeena. Sacrificing one’s future for the needs of someone less fortunate is only a fraction of the human

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