Poem and My BIG Question

Sir Thomas Wyatt's "They Flee from Me that Sometime Did Me Seek" displays love on the speaker's part, and the sacrifice he gave as a result. His love interest leaves him and his feelings are forfeited in the process. The act of love itself is what allows a person to put themselves into a relationship and they risk being hurt in effect. This is the sacrifice, the trust one person puts in another to not hurt them.



In this poem, the women originally take this chance ("they have put themselves in danger / To take bread at my hand"), but in the end it is he whose love is sacrificed when he truly falls in love ("I unkindly so am served").

100 Years of Solitude and My BIG Question

There is much love in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude, in fact this is what holds the family together throughout the entire novel. To be continued...

How my BIG QUESTION relates to literature we have read recently

In The Stranger, Marie sacrifices herself in her love for Meursault. He does not reciprocate her feelings and is hurt by this. When she asks him to marry her, on page 41, he said, "it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to." His lack of enthusiasm about their relationship seems that it would hurt her and although she is constantly smiling, it seems that this is a facade, masking her inner emotions.

Playboy of the Western World: Relation to the BIG QUESTION

In Playboy of the Western World, Pegeen and Shawn's relationship involves sacrifice on both ends. Shawn sacrifices his happiness (he leaves his 'comfort zone') to be engaged to Pegeen and his efforts aren't appreciated by Pegeen. Pegeen sacrifices her satisfaction in life to remain in the town with Shawn, she would rather have left with Christy Mahon. Christy, in turn, refuses to sacrifice himself, he leaves in order to continue forward in life (those that stay in town seem to be almost stuck in time).

The Sun Also Rises: Relation to the BIG QUESTION

Over the summer I read The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway and discovered a few prominent sacrifices and offerings in the relationships between characters.
The main female character in the story, Lady Brett Ashley, is the center of both relationships that apply to this BIG QUESTION. Another character, Robert Cohn, falls desperately in love with her and though she enjoys his attention for a bit, she quickly grows tired of him and moves on while he tirelessly tries to rekindle what they had. She falls in love with a famous bull fighter named Pedro Romero and enjoys rubbing this in Cohn's face. Cohn's love for Brett is a sacrifice, as he is unhappy with it and it is not requited, while Brett's love for Romero is more to the offering side because she enjoys it and he loves her in return.

My BIG QUESTION

What are the boundaries of love and sacrifice, and where does one draw the line between them?

This question is one that often appears in literature and affects almost every relationship a person has. Prevalent in my life, I have often wondered the degree to which a person will sacrifice themselves in order to love and receive love in return. I believe that if one is truly in love, they will be willing to sacrifice (to a certain degree) and in this case the word will not completely apply: offering becomes a better directive rather than the suffering that is implied by sacrifice. If the feelings are not mutual the one offering risks being taken advantage of to the point of sacrificing. This is the thin line that one must walk in order to be content in love and life. I believe that the line is crossed and one enters sacrificial territory when they are unhappy and are not reveiving in return.

In my own life, I have observed much love, offering, and sacrifice. My parents have done an enormous amount in order to love each other, including my father's concession to live in America with my mother, rather than his home coutry of Colombia. This decision also involves their love for my brother and I, because we were a major determinant. They wanted us to be able to grow up in a place where we would be assured more safety and have more opportunities than would be offered us in Colombia. Because my father would probably prefer to live in Colombia with his entire family, be able to speak his native language, and continue in the culture he is familiar with, I believe this was a sacrifice on his part. He sacrificed his happiness for his family and has accepted this, almost putting it in terms of an offering but not completely.