sacrifice and success heroism essay

Sacrifice in Heroism Essay Example

Although heroes usually wear capes, showing sacrifice is what everyone should picture when they hear the word hero. Picture sacrifice when thinking of heroes because sacrifice is the ultimate form of heroism. Not only do heroes not wear capes, heroes are everyday people risking what they have for what is right.

Heroism is being brave while overcoming challenges, as well as sacrificing what you have. In the poem "A Man" by Nina Cassian, a man loses his arm. This poem shows the man realizing what he can not do anymore but without worry. Although, in the end, it is a good thing. "And where the arm had been torn away a wing grew." (Cassian 75) He shows bravery and sacrifice because he overcame losing his arm without any doubt. Another example of sacrifice is in the article "Soldier Home After Losing His Leg in Afghanistan" by Gale Fiege. This article explains a story of a man that loses his leg while driving over a bomb in Afghanistan. The article explains what he was feeling during physical therapy and the outcome that came with it. Physical therapy was a rough journey for him, "The rehabilitation was rigorous and I pushed it, building back my muscles and learning to use the prosthetic leg." (Fiege 79) He sacrificed his time and effort to get back to 100%. When he was strong enough to walk again, he won the Purple Heart award for overcoming a challenge that came to him in war. This article shows heroism because the man never gave up and overcame an ambitious challenge. Harriet Tubman is another example. Harriet was the woman that saved the majority of slaves from plantations through the underground railroad. The underground railroad was a network of secret tunnels and safe houses underground. Harriet showed bravery by risking her life and saving others by leading them through the underground railroad to freedom. All three of these examples showed heroism because they all sacrificed what they had to help out a bigger problem.

Heroism is about standing for what you believe in. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln was an avid antislavery supporter. Being the president, Lincoln was exposed to lots of slavery and protests about slavery. Lincoln decided to take a stand and put it to an end. Lincoln helped pass the 13th amendment in 1864, ending slavery in America. Lincoln made bright lives for those in the future. "The light of his brightening prospects flashes cheeringly to-day athwart the gloom occasioned by his death..." (Gurley 89). This means that Lincoln impacted people for many years to come. Lincoln showed sacrifice by going against the ways of America and doing what he sought right. On the other hand, Frederick Douglass was a former slave. In 1855 Douglass escaped his plantation and settled in Massachusetts. Douglass published an antislavery newspaper to open the minds of slave owners. Douglass was appointed by Lincoln himself to be his adviser during the Civil War. Later, Douglass was raised to a position in the U.S. government, which was never achieved before by an African American. This played a big role in the African American community, still affecting lives to this day. "...but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.” (Hayden 95) Douglass took a stride towards freedom and he crossed the finish line by not backing down on his beliefs.

Heroism is caring about others over yourself. In my personal life, my parents have shown the most heroism. Almost every single day my parents sacrifice what they have for me. Let it be the food they were going to eat, or maybe they were trying to save money but purchased something I wanted to make me happy. No matter how their day has been, whatever I need my parents are there for me. This exemplifies heroism because they give up what they worked for and let go of what they have so I can be happy. A piece of literature that I have read that shows heroism can be found in Harry Potter: The Sorcerer's Stone. In this book, the three main protagonists, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, are stopped in their path by an oversized board of Wizard's Chest. In the middle of the game, the three get stuck in a situation where the only way to win is through sacrifice. They need to sacrifice Ron's piece, the Knight. Ron realizes what he needs to do and tells his friends that he needs to sacrifice himself. The others beg him not to, but he says, "Harry, it's you who has to go on. I know it. Not me. Not Hermione. You." and proceeds to sacrifice his Knight to let Harry get a checkmate on the King and win the game. This shows heroism because Ron sacrifices himself for the greater good to save his friends and others. My third example of heroism is two YouTubers named Mark Rober and Mr Beast. Instead of focusing on their careers, these two individuals started a funding program called TeamSeas. TeamSeas was designed to take the trash out of the ocean. They made this foundation for poorer countries that do not have the option of recycling, which leads to oceans overflowing with garbage. Every dollar donated to TeamSeas would take one pound of trash out of the ocean. Their goal was $30,000,000 donated, but they surpassed that with around $32,000,000 donated. They showed sacrifice because they took time out of their lives for others in need of help.

As a result, all of these examples take sacrifice to overcome. Instead of doing their everyday things, these heroes decided to sacrifice what they had to make their life, and the lives of others better. Wearing a cape or hiding your identity does not make you a hero. The real heroes are people taking time out of their day for whatever seeks need. In conclusion, heroism is not about getting acknowledgement for what you do but sacrificing what you can not get back.

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A hero refers to an ordinary individual who does something considered extraordinary for the good of others. Heroisms begin with the attitude, continue with preparation and complete itself with the action. Thus the act of a hero is a manifestation of the underlying attitude with success depending on the preparation for the same. The act of heroism does not always indicate itself in the actions that hit news headline; many heroes are surrounding us.

Many individuals who become heroes have tendencies of showing concern for the wellbeing of others thus sacrifices. Compassion and empathy for others are fundamental variables that contribute significantly to the heroic behavior, a person who rushes to assist others in the face of adversity and danger do so since they genuinely are concerned or care about well-being and safety of others . These people keep going even in the front of fear. In Beowulf, the main character Beowulf is portrayed as a hero who has extraordinary strength, but this is not what makes him a hero since by definition a hero is a person of exceptional quality. Nonetheless, the term does do any justice to this protagonist as his self- imposed life purpose is to help others, and finally sacrifices own life doing so. The dragon section indicates a significant number of Beowulf’s heroic characteristics; he establishes himself as a hero as result of fighting dragons thus exemplifying courage and strength when fighting the menace and sacrifices own life such that others can live. Notoriously dragons were difficult to kill, the poem highlights that it was a great man who kills a dragon, he sought no reward for services since the satisfaction he got by helping other was sufficient pay.

Sacrifices contribute significantly to heroism and ensure that people are ready to face hardship that prepares ordinary individuals for the extraordinary life. Although suffering and pain are negative experiences that can be avoided, it clear that they are excellent opportunities for a person to develop an extraordinary life. An ideal hero is one who indeed concentrates on the work and issues tenaciously to do something about them, in this context, sacrifice implies the sophisticated choices that one unselfishly makes with the aim of helping others.

On the other hand, the desire to succeed contributes significantly to heroism. Thus a hero should be competent enough implying that he or she should have the talents and abilities to influence others. The motivation to be a hero embedded on personal success rather than sacrifice for the best of the community, thus most heroes are egocentric. The motivation to be a hero is required for the hero to remain dedicated without giving up. The inspiration or motivation can be from many things, but many heroes act and work because of the concern and compassion for success. The sacrifice of heroes may not necessarily be a life sacrifice but rather the sacrifice of anything personal and or of value to him.

Generally, sacrifice is giving up something because you need to but not because you want that is heroism. Whether motivated by success or sacrifice, heroes have a sound moral compass; they are confident and competent. They keep going even in the face of fear, keep working on their goals even after setbacks. Persistence is an outstanding quality that all heroes share.

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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

Big Ideas Articles & More

What makes a hero, we all have an inner hero, argues philip zimbardo . here's how to find it..

This month, Greater Good features videos of a presentation by Philip Zimbardo, the world-renowned psychologist perhaps best known for his infamous Stanford Prison Experiment. In his talk, Zimbardo discusses the psychology of evil and of heroism, exploring why good people sometimes turn bad and how we can encourage more people to perform heroic acts. In this excerpt from his talk, he zeroes in on his research and educational program designed to foster the “heroic imagination.”

More on Heroism

Watch the video of Philip Zimbardo's Greater Good talk on heroism.

Read his essay on " The Banality of Heroism ," which further explores the conditions that can promote heroism vs. evil.

Read this Greater Good essay on the "psychology of the bystander."

Learn more about Zimbardo's Heroic Imagination Project.

What makes us good? What makes us evil?

Research has uncovered many answers to the second question: Evil can be fostered by dehumanization, diffusion of responsibility, obedience to authority, unjust systems, group pressure, moral disengagement, and anonymity, to name a few.

But when we ask why people become heroic, research doesn’t yet have an answer. It could be that heroes have more compassion or empathy; maybe there’s a hero gene; maybe it’s because of their levels of oxytocin—research by neuroeconomist Paul Zak has shown that this “love hormone” in the brain increases the likelihood you’ll demonstrate altruism. We don’t know for sure.

I believe that heroism is different than altruism and compassion. For the last five years, my colleagues and I have been exploring the nature and roots of heroism, studying exemplary cases of heroism and surveying thousands of people about their choices to act (or not act) heroically. In that time, we’ve come to define heroism as an activity with several parts.

First, it’s performed in service to others in need—whether that’s a person, group, or community—or in defense of certain ideals. Second, it’s engaged in voluntarily, even in military contexts, as heroism remains an act that goes beyond something required by military duty. Third, a heroic act is one performed with recognition of possible risks and costs, be they to one’s physical health or personal reputation, in which the actor is willing to accept anticipated sacrifice. Finally, it is performed without external gain anticipated at the time of the act.

Simply put, then, the key to heroism is a concern for other people in need—a concern to defend a moral cause, knowing there is a personal risk, done without expectation of reward.

By that definition, then, altruism is heroism light—it doesn’t always involve a serious risk. Compassion is a virtue that may lead to heroism, but we don’t know that it does. We’re just now starting to scientifically distinguish heroism from these other concepts and zero in on what makes a hero.

My work on heroism follows 35 years of research in which I studied the psychology of evil, including my work on the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment . The two lines of research aren’t as different as they might seem; they’re actually two sides of the same coin.

A key insight from research on heroism so far is that the very same situations that inflame the hostile imagination in some people, making them villains, can also instill the heroic imagination in other people, prompting them to perform heroic deeds.

Take the Holocaust. Christians who helped Jews were in the same situation as other civilians who helped imprison or kill Jews, or ignored their suffering. The situation provided the impetus to act heroically or malevolently. Why did some people choose one path or the other?

Another key insight from my research has been that there’s no clear line between good and evil. Instead, the line is permeable; people can cross back and forth between it.

This is an idea wonderfully represented in an illusion by M. C. Escher, at left. When you squint and focus on the white as the figures and the black as the background, you see a world full of angels and tutus dancing around happily. But now focus on the black as the figures and the white as the background: Now it’s a world full of demons.

What Escher’s telling us is that the world is filled with angels and devils, goodness and badness, and these dark and light aspects of human nature are our basic yin and yang. That is, we all are born with the capacity to be anything. Because of our incredible brains, anything that is imaginable becomes possible, anything that becomes possible can get transformed into action, for better or for worse. 

Some people argue humans are born good or born bad; I think that’s nonsense. We are all born with this tremendous capacity to be anything, and we get shaped by our circumstances—by the family or the culture or the time period in which we happen to grow up, which are accidents of birth; whether we grow up in a war zone versus peace; if we grow up in poverty rather than prosperity.

George Bernard Shaw captured this point in the preface to his great play “Major Barbara”: “Every reasonable man and woman is a potential scoundrel and a potential good citizen. What a man is depends upon his character what’s inside. What he does and what we think of what he does depends on upon his circumstances.”

So each of us may possess the capacity to do terrible things. But we also posses an inner hero; if stirred to action, that inner hero is capable of performing tremendous goodness for others.

Another conclusion from my research is that few people do evil and fewer act heroically. Between these extremes in the bell curve of humanity are the masses—the general population who do nothing, who I call the “reluctant heroes”—those who refuse the call to action and, by doing nothing, often implicitly support the perpetrators of evil.

So on this bell curve of humanity, villains and heroes are the outliers. The reluctant heroes are the rest. What we need to discover is how to give a call to service to this general population. How do we make them aware of the evil that exists? How do we prevent them from getting seduced to the dark side?

We don’t yet have a recipe for creating heroes, but we have some clues, based on the stories of some inspiring heroes.

I love the story of a wonderful nine-year-old Chinese boy, who I call a dutiful hero. In 2008, there was a massive earthquake in China’s Szechuan province. The ceiling fell down on a school, killing almost all the kids in it. This kid escaped, and as he was running away he noticed two other kids struggling to get out. He ran back and saved them. He was later asked, “Why did you do that?” He replied, “I was the hall monitor! It was my duty, it was my job to look after my classmates!”

This perfectly illustrates what I call the “heroic imagination,” a focus on one’s duty to help and protect others. For him, it was cultivated by being assigned this role of hall monitor.

Another story: Irena Sendler was a Polish hero, a Catholic woman who saved at least 2,500 Jewish kids who were holed up in the Warsaw ghetto that the Nazis had erected. She was able to convince the parents of these kids to allow her to smuggle them out of the ghetto to safety. To do this, she organized a network.

That is a key principle of heroism: Heroes are most effective not alone but in a network. It’s through forming a network that people have the resources to bring their heroic impulses to life.

What these stories suggest is that every one of us can be a hero. Through my work on heroism, I’ve become even more convinced that acts of heroism don’t just arrive from truly exceptional people but from people placed in the right circumstance, given the necessary tools to transform compassion into heroic action.

Building on these insights, I have helped to start a program designed to learn more of heroism and to create the heroes of tomorrow.

The Heroic Imagination Project (HIP) is amplifying the voice of the world’s quiet heroes, using research and education networks to promote a heroic imagination in everyone, and then empower ordinary people of all ages and nations to engage in extraordinary acts of heroism. We want to democratize the notion of heroism, to emphasize that most heroes are ordinary people; it’s the act that’s extraordinary.

There are already a lot of great heroes projects out there, such as the Giraffe Heroes Project . The HIP is unique in that it’s the only one encouraging research into heroism, because there’s very little.

Here are a few key insights from research we’ve done surveying 4,000 Americans from across the country. Each of these statements is valid after controlling for all demographic variables, such as education and socioeconomic status.

Heroes surround us. One in five—20 percent—qualify as heroes, based on the definition of heroism I provide above. Seventy-two percent report helping another person in a dangerous emergency. Sixteen percent report whistle blowing on an injustice. Six percent report sacrificing for a non-relative or stranger. Fifteen percent report defying an unjust authority. And not one of these people has been formally recognized as a hero.

Opportunity matters. Most acts of heroism occur in urban areas, where there are more people and more people in need. You’re not going to be a hero if you live in the suburbs. No shit happens in the suburbs!

Education matters. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be a hero, I think because you are more aware of situations.

Volunteering matters. One third of all the sample who were heroes also had volunteered significantly, up to 59 hours a week.

Gender matters. Males reported performing acts of heroism more than females. I think this is because women tend not to regard a lot of their heroic actions as heroic. It’s just what they think they’re supposed to do for their family or a friend.

Race matters. Blacks were eight times more likely than whites to qualify as heroes. We think that’s in part due to the rate of opportunity. (In our next survey, we’re going to track responses by area code to see if in fact these heroes are coming from inner cities.

Personal history matters. Having survived a disaster or personal trauma makes you three times more likely to be a hero and a volunteer.

Based on these insights into heroism, we’ve put together a toolkit for potential heroes, especially young heroes in training, who already have opportunities to act heroically when they’re kids, such as by opposing bullying.

A first step is to take the “hero pledge,” a public declaration on our website that says you’re willing to be a hero in waiting. It’s a pledge “to act when confronted with a situation where I feel something is wrong,” “to develop my heroic abilities,” and “to believe in the heroic capacities within myself and others, so I can build and refine them.”

You can also take our four-week “Hero Challenge” mini-course online to help you develop your heroic muscles. The challenge may not require you to do anything heroic, but it’s training you to be heroic. And we offer more rigorous, research-based education and training programs for middle and high schools, corporations, and the millitary that make people aware of the social factors that produce passivity, inspire them to take positive civic action, and encourage the skills needed to consistently translate heroic impulses into action.

We’re also in the process of creating an Encyclopedia of Heroes, a collection of hero stories from all over the world. Not just all the classic ones and fictional ones, but ones that people from around the world are going to send in, so they can nominate ordinary heroes with a picture and a story. It will be searchable, so you can find heroes by age, gender, city and country. These are the unsung, quiet heroes—they do their own thing, put themselves in danger, defend a moral cause, help someone in need. And we want to highlight them. We want them to be inspirational to other people just like them.

Essentially, we’re trying to build the social habits of heroes, to build a focus on the other, shifting away from the “me” and toward the “we.” As the poet John Donne wrote: “No man [or woman] is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; … any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

So every person is part of humanity. Each person’s pulse is part of humanity’s heartbeat. Heroes circulate the life force of goodness in our veins. And what the world needs now is more heroes—you. It’s time to take action against evil.

About the Author

Philip Zimbardo

Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D. , is a professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University, a professor at Palo Alto University, a two-time past president of the Western Psychological Association, and a past president of the American Psychological Association. He is also the author of the best-selling book The Lucifer Effect and the president of the Heroic Imagination Project .

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Very nice information. In this world this is the very difficult question that what makes people good or evil. This post has helped a lot to understand the difference. Actually in my point of it depends upon the individual that what he/she thinks. If he/she thinks negative all the time them they became evil and thinking vice versa makes them good.

Andrew | 2:31 am, January 19, 2011 | Link

I really like reading this article because there are many individuals in the world that are heroes but are not recognized.  Heroes that have help humanity progress and prosper have fought with the greatest weapons which are love, respect, sincerity, and peace.  The governments that have had the greatest fear of seeing people free have always use war for colonization, genocide, and false treaties.  However, love is much stronger than war, and thanks to the modern forms of communication and exchange of information, more people are united for peace and do not support or participate in colonization or human genocide.  Since the start of humanity most people have use peace to progress, few have participated in war and few are participating. May peace prevail on earth!

Victor | 7:48 pm, January 29, 2011 | Link

A son raising up against an evil father. A brother standing up to a bully attacking his sibling. A stranger rallying to the side of a woman being assaulted in the street.

My sons are my strength. My reason to help others, that they may find the help they need in their lives.

pops | 9:39 am, February 3, 2011 | Link

Of course religion and eduction has a big impact on a child. But once a child is trying to live a good life (earning good karma or call it whatever you want) good things will happen to that child and he or she will recognize this.

So I think you can definitely change from evil to good.. maybe you _can be changed_ from good to evil.

Massud Hosseini | 7:28 am, September 17, 2011 | Link

Actually in my point of it depends upon the individual that what he/she thinks

asalah | 9:41 pm, September 24, 2011 | Link

“Research has uncovered many answers to the second question: Evil can be fostered by dehumanization, diffusion of responsibility, obedience to authority, unjust systems, group pressure, moral disengagement, and anonymity, to name a few.”  <—What I find amazing about this statement is that anything is being branded “evil” at all.  Well, maybe not.  Relativism seems to be something that’s employed when convenient, disregarded when it’s not.

Kukri | 6:58 pm, November 6, 2011 | Link

This is a very comprehensive discussion on heroism. Victor makes a great point in his comment about how most heroes go unnoticed by the vast majority of people. I think that lack of notoriety is part of what it means to be a hero: doing that which is unexpected without the need for a pat on the back. quotes for facebook status

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When a sniper’s bullet hits one soldier and misses the person next to him, that alone does not make the wounded soldier more heroic.

brokesteves | 6:10 am, April 24, 2012 | Link

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Heroes: What They Do & Why We Need Them

A commentary on today's heroes, suffering and sacrifice: the necessary ingredients of heroism.

“Hardships prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary life.” – C.S. Lewis

This article is excerpted from:

Allison, S. T., & Setterberg, G. C. (2016). Suffering and sacrifice: Individual and collective benefits, and implications for leadership. In S. T. Allison, C. T. Kocher, & G. R. Goethals (Eds), Frontiers in spiritual leadership: Discovering the better angels of our nature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Are pain and suffering destructive experiences to be avoided, or are they opportunities for people to develop an extraordinary life? The wisdom of spiritual philosophies throughout the ages has converged with modern psychological research to produce an answer: Suffering and sacrifice offer profound gains, advantages, and opportunities to those open to such boons.

Our review of the wisdom gleaned from theology and psychology reveals at least six beneficial effects of suffering. These include the idea that suffering (1) has redemptive qualities, (2) signifies important developmental milestones, (3) fosters humility, (4) elevates compassion, (5) encourages social union and action, and (6) provides meaning and purpose.

1. Suffering is Redemptive

Christianity also embraces the redemptive value of suffering. Foremost in the Judeo-Christian tradition is the idea that all human suffering stems from the fall of man (Genesis 1:31). The centerpiece of suffering in the New Testament is, of course, the portrayal of the passion of Christ through the Synoptic Gospels. For Christians, Christ’s suffering served the purpose of redeeming no less than the entire human race, elevating Jesus into the role of the Western world’s consummate spiritual leader for the past two millennia.

Our previous work on the psychology of heroism has identified personal transformation through struggle as one of the defining characteristics of heroic leadership. Nelson Mandela, for example, endured 27 years of harsh imprisonment before assuming the presidency of South Africa. Mandela’s ability to prevail after such long-term suffering made him an inspirational hero worldwide. Desmond Tutu opined that Mandela’s suffering “helped to purify him and grow the magnanimity that would become his hallmark”.

In the field of positive psychology, scholars have acknowledged the role of suffering in the development of healthy character strengths. Positive psychology recognizes beneficial effects of suffering through the principles of posttraumatic growth, stress-related growth, positive adjustment, positive adaptation, and adversarial growth .

A study of character strengths measured before and after the September 11 th terrorist attacks showed an increase in people’s “faith, hope, and love”. The redemptive development of hope, wisdom, and resilience as a result of suffering is said to have contributed to the leadership excellence of figures such as Helen Keller, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, Stephen Hawking, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, and Ludwig van Beethoven, among others.

2. Suffering Signifies a Necessary “Crossover” Point in Life

Psychologists who study lifespan development have long known that humans traverse through various stages of maturation from birth to death. Each necessary entanglement on the human journey represents painful progress toward becoming fully human, each struggle an opportunity for people to achieve the goal of wholeness. According to Erik Erikson, people must successfully negotiate a specific crisis associated with each growth stage. If mishandled, the crisis can produce suffering, and it is this suffering produces the necessary motivation for progression to the subsequent stage.

A recurring theme in world literature is the idea that people must plummet to physical and emotional depths before they can ascend to new heights. In The Odyssey , the hero Odysseus descends to Hades where he meets the blind prophet Tireseas. Only at this lowest of points, in the depths of the underworld, is Odysseus given the gift of insight about how to become the wise ruler of Ithaca. The Apostles’ Creed tells of Jesus descending into hell before his ascent to heaven. Somehow, the author(s) of the creed deemed it absolutely necessary for Jesus to fall before he could “rise” from the dead.

In eastern religious traditions, such as Hinduism, one encounters the idea that suffering follows naturally from the commission of immoral acts in one’s current or past life. This type of karma involves the acceptance of suffering as a just consequence and as an opportunity for spiritual progress.

The message is clear: we must die, or some part of us must die, before we can live, or at least move forward. If we resist that dying – and most every one of us does – we resist what is good for us and hence bring about our own suffering. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung observed that “the foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of true suffering .”

Paradoxically, if we avoid suffering, we avoid growth. People who resist any type of dying will experience necessary suffering. Those who resist suffering are ill equipped to serve as the leaders of society. Our most heroic leaders, like Nelson Mandela, have been “through the fire” and have thus gained the wisdom and maturity to lead wisely.

3. Suffering Encourages Humility

Spiritual traditions from around the world emphasize that although life can be painful, a higher power is at work using our circumstances to humble us and to shape us into what he, she, or it wants us to be. C.S. Lewis once noted, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Richard Rohr opines that suffering “doesn’t accomplish anything tangible but creates space for learning and love.” Suffering serves the purpose of humbling us and waking us from the dream of self-sufficiency.

In twelve-step programs, pain, misery, and desperation become the keys to recovery. Step 7 asks program members to “ humbly ask God” to remove personal defects of character (italics added). This humility can only be accomplished by first admitting defeat and then accepting that one cannot recover from addiction without assistance from a higher power. In the end, selflessly serving others – Step 12 — is pivotal in maintaining one’s own sobriety and recovery.

4. Suffering Stimulates Compassion

Suffering also invokes compassion for those who are hurting. Every major spiritual tradition emphasizes the importance of consolation, relief, and self-sacrificial outreach for the suffering. Buddhist use two words in reference to compassion. The first is karuna , which is the willingness to bear the pain of another and to practice kindness, affection, and gentleness toward those who suffer. The second term is metta , which is an altruistic kindness and love that is free of any selfish attachment.

Psychologists have found that just getting people to think about the suffering of others activates the vagus nerve, which is associated with compassion. Having people read uplifting stories about sacrifice increases empathy to the same degree as various kinds of spiritual practices such as contemplation, prayer, meditation, and yoga. Being outside in a beautiful natural setting also appears to encourage greater compassion. Feelings of awe and wonder about the universe and the miracle of life can increase both sympathy and compassion.

Being rich and powerful may also undermine empathic responses. In a series of fascinating studies, researchers observed the behavior of drivers at a busy four-way intersection. They discovered that drivers of luxury cars were more likely to cut off other motorists rather than wait their turn at the intersection. Luxury car drivers were more likely to speed past a pedestrian trying to use a crosswalk rather than let the pedestrian cross the road. Compared to lower and middle-class participants, wealthy participants also showed little heart rate change when watching a video of children with cancer.

These data suggest that more powerful and wealthy people are less likely to show compassion for the less fortunate than are the weak and the poor. Heroic leaders are somehow able to guard against letting the power of their position compromise their values of compassion and empathy for the least fortunate.

5. Suffering Promotes Social Union and Collective Action

Sigmund Freud wrote, “We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never so forlornly unhappy as when we have lost our love object or its love.” It is clear that Freud viewed social relations as the cause of suffering. In contrast, the spiritual view of suffering reflects the opposite position, namely, that suffering is actually the cause of our social relations . Suffering brings people together and is much better than joy at creating bonds among group members.

Psychologist Stanley Schachter told his research participants that they were about to receive painful electric shocks. Before participating in the study, they were asked to choose one of two waiting rooms in which to sit. Participants about to receive shocks were much more likely to choose the waiting room with people in it compared to the empty room. Schachter concluded that misery loves company .

Schachter then went a step further and asked a different group of participants, also about to receive the shocks, if they would prefer to wait in a room with other participants who were about to receive shocks, or a room with participants who would not be receiving shocks. Schachter found that participants about to receive shocks much preferred the room with others who were going to share the same fate. His conclusion: misery doesn’t love any kind of company; misery loves miserable company.

Suffering can also mobilize people. The suffering of impoverished Americans during the Great Depression enabled Franklin Roosevelt to implement his New Deal policies and programs. Later, during World War II, both he and Churchill cited the suffering of both citizens and soldiers to promote the rationing of sugar, butter, meat, tea, biscuits, coffee, canned milk, firewood, and gasoline.

In North America, African-Americans were subjugated by European-Americans for centuries, and from this suffering emerged the heroic leadership of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesse Jackson, among others. The suffering of women inspired Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and a host of other heroic activists to promote the women’s suffrage movement.

6. Suffering Instills Meaning and Purpose

The sixth and final benefit of suffering resides in the meaning and purpose that suffering imparts to the sufferer. Many spiritual traditions underscore the role of suffering in bestowing a sense of significance and worth to life. In Islam, the faithful are asked to accept suffering as Allah’s will and to submit to it as a test of faith. Followers are cautioned to avoid questioning or resisting the suffering; one simply endures it with the assurance that Allah never asks for more than one can handle.

For Christians, countless scriptural passages emphasize discernment of God’s will to gain an understanding of suffering or despair. Suffering is endowed with meaning when it is attached to a perception of a divine calling in one’s life or a belief that all events can be used to fulfill God’s greater and mysterious purpose.

The ability to derive meaning from suffering is a hallmark characteristic of heroism in myths and legends. Comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell (1949) discovered that all great hero tales from around the globe share a common structure, which Campbell called the hero monomyth . A key component of the monomyth is the hero’s ability to endure suffering and to triumph over it. Heroes discover, or recover, an important inner quality that plays a pivotal role in producing a personal transformation that enables the hero to rise about the suffering and prevail.

Suffering is one of many recurring phenomena found in classic hero tales. Other phenomena endemic to hero tales include love, mystery, eternity, infinity, God, paradox, meaning, and sacrifice. Richard Rohr calls these phenomena transrational experiences. An experience is considered transrational when it defies logical analysis and can only be understood (or best understood) in the context of a good narrative. We can better understand the underlying meaning of suffering within an effective story.

The legendary poet William Wordsworth must have been intuitively aware of the transrational nature of suffering, sacrifice, and the infinite when he penned the following line: “Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, and shares the nature of infinity.” Joseph Campbell connected the dots between suffering and people’s search for meaning. According to Campbell, the hero’s journey is “the pivotal myth that unites the spiritual adventure of ancient heroes with the modern search for meaning.”

For an individual or a group to move forward or progress, something unpleasant must be endured (suffering) or something pleasant must be given up (sacrifice). Humanity’s most effective and inspiring leaders have sustained immense suffering, made harrowing sacrifices, or both. These leaders’ suffering and sacrifice set them apart from the masses of people who deny, decry, or defy these seemingly unsavory experiences.

Great heroic leaders understand that suffering redeems, augments, defines, humbles, elevates, mobilizes, and enriches us. These enlightened leaders not only refuse to allow suffering and sacrifice to defeat them; they use suffering and sacrifice as assets to be mined for psychological advantages and inspiration. Individuals who successfully plumb the spiritual treasures of suffering and sacrifice have the wisdom and maturity to evolve into society’s most transcendent leaders.

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This article is based on a chapter authored by Scott Allison and Gwendolyn Setterberg, published in ‘ Frontiers in Spiritual Leadership ’, in 2016. The exact reference for the article is:

Allison, S. T., & Setterberg, G. C. (2016). Suffering and sacrifice: Individual and collective benefits, and implications for leadership. In S. T. Allison, C. T. Kocher, & G. R. Goethals, (Eds), Frontiers in spiritual leadership: Discovering the better angels of our nature . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bibliography

Allison, S. T., & Cecilione, J. L. (2015). Paradoxical truths in heroic leadership: Implications for leadership development and effectiveness. In R. Bolden, M. Witzel, & N. Linacre (Eds.), Leadership paradoxes . London: Routledge.

Allison, S. T., Eylon, D., Beggan, J.K., & Bachelder, J. (2009). The demise of leadership: Positivity and negativity in evaluations of dead leaders. The Leadership Quarterly , 20 , 115-129.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2008). Deifying the dead and downtrodden: Sympathetic figures as inspirational leaders. In C.L. Hoyt, G. R. Goethals, & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Leadership at the crossroads: Psychology and leadership . Westport, CT: Praeger.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2014). “Now he belongs to the ages”: The heroic leadership dynamic and deep narratives of greatness. In Goethals, G. R., Allison, S. T., Kramer, R., & Messick, D. (Eds.), Conceptions of leadership: Enduring ideas and emerging insights . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Campbell, J. (1949). The hero with a thousand faces . New World Library.

Cambpell, J. (1971). Man & Myth: A Conversation with Joseph Campbell. Psychology Today , July 1971.

Diehl, U. (2009). Human suffering as a challenge for the meaning of life. International Journal of Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts , 4(2).

Frankl, V. (1946). Man’s search for meaning . New York: Beacon Press.

Goethals, G. R. & Allison, S. T. (2012). Making heroes: The construction of courage, competence and virtue. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 46 , 183-235. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394281-4.00004-0

Goethals, G. R., & Allison, S. T. (2016). Transforming motives and mentors: The heroic leadership of James MacGregor Burns . Unpublished manuscript, University of Richmond.

Goethals, G. R., Allison, S. T., Kramer, R., & Messick, D. (Eds.) (2014). Conceptions of leadership: Enduring ideas and emerging insights . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gunderman (2002). Is suffering the enemy? The Hastings Center Report , 32, 40-44.

Hall, Langer, & Martin (2010). The role of suffering in human flourishing: Contributions from positive psychology, theology, and philosophy. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 38 , 111-121.

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3 thoughts on “ suffering and sacrifice: the necessary ingredients of heroism ”.

What a fantastic article! I feel often that people having faced and overcome adversity & pain really “mature” into who they truely are. Food for thoughts for parents (like me & my wife) who are so trying to avoid pain to our children. Now I am not pushing them into pain but I am looking at when they feel pain and show how they can grow from it. Not easy either but great process. thx for sharing your wisedom Thierry http://www.ontheroadtohonesty.com

Thank you for your comment, Thierry. It takes patience to ride out the storm, trusting that good things will result from the pain. I appreciate your sharing.

If life hands you lemons– make lemonade. It’s very true that suffering and sacrifice can build character. It can also make people bitter and cynical. That’s the difference between the heroes and villains, I suppose.

It also raises a disturbing thought. We aspire to create a better world, free of suffering and want– but if that goal is achieved, would it only create a society of shallow and unfeeling reptiles? Is it possible to have it both ways?

Comments are closed.

Beowulf Sacrifice Essay

In Beowulf, the themes of liberation and sacrifice can be seen in Beowulf’s heroic narrative. Believed to be sent by God to rescue the people of Heorot, Beowulf not only serves as their warrior, but their protector from every evil that threatens their land. Beowulf sacrifices his own life to save the people, accepting his own death at the hands of the dragon. The themes of sacrifice and liberation are major themes in Beowulf, as seen through Beowulf’s willingness to defeat Grendel at Heorot and willingness to die fighting the dragon. Beowulf is first introduced as a liberator when he defeats Grendel and restores Danish power at Heorot. In the beginning of Beowulf, when the great hall of Heorot was constructed, it is described as a marvel, …show more content…

After defeating both Grendel and his mother, Beowulf lives as king for fifty years before facing a dragon that attacks his land. After the dragon destroys the Geats’ throne-room and kills many of his people, Beowulf becomes greatly distraught. Instead of immediately jumping into battle, he becomes distraught. He is described as being in “deep anguish...his mind was in turmoil, unaccustomed anxiety and gloom confused his brain,” (2327, 2331-2333). Although Beowulf is overwhelmed with grief, he also understands his responsibility to protect his people from danger. In accepting the task of fighting the dragon, he also accepts his death, saying that “after many trials,/ he was destined to face the end of his days,/ in this mortal world, as was the dragon,” (2341-2343). Although he knew that facing the dragon would be fatal, Beowulf accepts this and chooses to fight anyway. He protects his men by choosing to fight alone. He tells his men to “remain here on the barrow,/ safe in your armor...this fight is not yours,/ nor is it up to any man except me…” (2529, 2532-2533). Beowulf serves as a sacrificial king, offering his own life for the betterment of his people. The themes of liberation and sacrifice are demonstrated by Beowulf as he protects the people he had sworn to watch over. He serves to deliver the people from various forms of evil, sacrificing his own safety to do so. This sacrifice ultimately costs Beowulf his own life, as he chooses to fight the evil alone. Within Beowulf, he serves as a liberating and sacrificial hero , choosing the safety and betterment of his people over

Beowulf Essay: The Hero's Journey

even as a weak old man, he chooses to be selfless. He could have just been satisfied with his success in his older battles, but he picks honor over comfort. Beowulf knew that he probably wouldn’t make it after this battle, but he was content with his achievements for his people. He left to face the dragon, and when they arrived, his men betrayed him. (Beowulf 87-88).

How Does Beowulf Show Self Sacrifice

Not only have we seen brute strength, honorable courage, and admirable loyalty shine through beowulf, Beowulf also possess a great trait not many others have; his will to fight to the death, or self sacrifice. Not once throughout the story did Beowulf ever turn down a battle. Not once did he fear or flee his enemy. Not once did he ever give up even if death had him by the throat causing his mind to flood nothing but fearful thoughts and feelings throughout his body. Every battle Beowulf fought, he fought as if it was his last and that is what truly makes him the great warrior he is.

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Beowulf attempted to comfort Hrothgar and the warriors by exclaiming, “Let your sorrow end! It is better for us all to avenge our friends, not mourn them forever”. He then aims to convince Hrothgar that “for the glory of his name, fame after death is the noblest of goals”. Beowulf believes it is worth dying for a good

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As king, Beowulf stepped up and fought the malevolent dragon in his last battle. In his last boast he uttered, “ I’ve never known fear, as a youth, I fought endless battles. I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.” (62). Beowulf was very confident for the circumstances.

Beowulf Courage Quotes

Beowulf is a strong heroic hero who shows honor,selfless,courage. Beowulf is a strong heroic hero in a way because heroes are protectors and he protected his people of his town. So he is a hero in fact a strong one and a loyal one. There is lots of ways he shows loyalty one i can show is “I had a fixed purpose when i came to sea as i sat in the boat with my band of men I meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in attempt in the fields clutches i shall fulfill my purpose prove myself of proud deeds or meat my death her in the mead-hall”(pages 632-639).I chose this quote because it shows that beowulf would give his head for his people. I think that beowulf wanted to die for his king after all that is the reason

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“Throughout the epic narrative, the emphasis is placed on the solitary nature of the hero’s task. Beowulf appears to live and fight alone” (Fisher). He became the savior of the Danes and the Geats because he saved the people from great

Arrogance In Beowulf

Beowulf makes known that “no man but [himself] could hope to defeat this monster, [and] no one could try.” Beowulf wants to have this fight all to himself, so he can take all of the glory. He is too selfish to conclude that only he could defeat the monster alone. Beowulf cannot be thought of as a hero because “Beowulf only longed for fame.” Beowulf does not perform heroic deeds just to save the citizens, but to receive more admiration from the citizens.

Beowulf Evil Quotes

The epic poem states “ wait, for me close by, my friends we shall see, soon who will survive this bloody battle, stand when the fighting is done no one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster no one could try,” (lines 679-685). This quote shows how the hero steps up to slay the all mighty dragon that no one was able to kill but him. Beowulf tells his men to stay behind so that he could do it on his own. Beowulf was doing something that all hero’s do, which is giving his opponent a fair fight and seeing who comes out on top.

Beowulf Is A Hero Essay

As the story progress, Beowulf became king of the Geats for 50 years when suddenly a dragon emerged from slumber began to burn down villages. However, Beowulf didn’t pay the slightest attention, but instead ignored what was happening. Finally, when the dragon burns down Beowulf’s throne room Beowulf decided that he needs to deal with the dragon. In Beowulf 's eyes, the lives of his citizens couldn’t even compare to his throne room. When Beowulf prepared to fight the dragon he said, “Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (lines 2512-2514).

The Knight And Beowulf Comparison Essay

Beowulf risked his life multiple times by battling Grendel and Grendel’s mother to save the people of Denmark. He also embarks on a battle with a dragon as an old man ascending on the Geats Throne. Each battle Beowulf fought has all been for the safety of his people. Although the Knight did not battle as a deed for his people, he also is viewed as a humble person his battles were for a purpose greater than himself. The knight never talks about his brave and valorous deeds.

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With the battle to protect the city against the dragon, even though Beowulf was king he fought the dragon. He fought the dragon because no one else could. No one was as selfless as he was to risk his life to protect the city. Without Beowulf these monsters would over power good and there would be no balance between good and evil.

Examples Of Sacrifice In Beowulf

Sacrifice is one of the greatest reverence of a hero. Beowulf story introduce a realization that hero always stay the same and up to the end we can still regard with wonder those hero's sacrifices. He sacrifice his own LIFE, quarrel without a sword, ruin everything with his splitting arm and defeat those protagonist. Hero can face all dilemmas but not to escape death. Since, end is a pleasure for a hero and to death by protecting his kingdom is a great privilege as an emulative man.

Good Vs. Evil In Beowulf Is An Epic Hero

But he knew the greatest threat came knocking at his door for a fight that will live on being told for eternity. Beowulf sacrificed his own life for those around him, “Quickly, the dragon cam at him, encouraged as Beowulf as Beowulf fell back; its breath fared, and he suffered, wrapped around in swirling flames- a king, before, but now a Beaton warrior” (lines 687-691). In the end Beowulf fought till the end fighting not only for himself but for his people. He fought like a king until his death. Beowulf gave the ultimate sacrifice to save his people.

Why Is Beowulf An Epic Hero

Beowulf risked his life twice to help the community of Heorot become safe again and with that received ultimate praise. For a last time Beowulf risked his life to save his own community who were his citizens as king. He conquered a powerful dragon that fatally injured him as well. Beowulf knew his life was at stake yet persevered for the sake of his

Literary Analysis Essay On Beowulf

As he ages, Beowulf defends his people with the same intent as the former king and displays the same heroism that is apparent in the United States military. Heorot, a dining hall that provides Hrothgar’s people place

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Which contributes more to heroism: sacrifice or success? Use...

Which contributes more to heroism: sacrifice or success? Use textual evidence from the epic poem "Beowulf' to support the stance chosen.

• 3 reasons to support claim (argument)
• 1 counter claim (counter-argument)

Beowulf: https://profrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/beowulf-full-story-literature-book.pdf

Answer & Explanation

In the epic poem "Beowulf," both sacrifice and success play significant roles in contributing to heroism. However, one could argue that sacrifice contributes more to heroism based on the text.  Here are three reasons to support this claim:

Selflessness and Courage: 

Beowulf exemplifies this aspect of heroism when he volunteers to fight the monstrous Grendel, putting his own life at risk. His act of sacrificing his safety for the sake of the Danish kingdom demonstrates the selflessness associated with heroism.

Legacy and Reputation: Throughout the poem, the heroes' actions and sacrifices are celebrated through oral tradition, contributing to their heroic reputation. Beowulf's heroic deeds, such as defeating Grendel and the dragon, become part of the epic's narrative, emphasizing the enduring impact of his sacrifices.   

Moral Integrity: Beowulf's decision to confront Grendel and the dragon aligns with his sense of duty and moral integrity, reinforcing the idea that heroism is closely tied to sacrifice.

Counter-claim:

While sacrifice is undeniably a crucial element of heroism in "Beowulf," one could argue that success contributes more to heroism. Success, in this context, represents the ability to overcome challenges and achieve the intended goal. Beowulf's ultimate success in defeating Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon underscores his heroism, as it demonstrates his exceptional strength, courage, and prowess as a warrior.

Sacrifice and success are essential components of heroism in "Beowulf," the act of sacrifice, driven by selflessness, moral integrity, and the enduring legacy it creates, contributes more significantly to the heroism depicted in the text.

Approach to solving the question: not applicable 

Detailed explanation: not applicable 

Examples: not applicable 

Key references: not applicable 

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Which Contributes More to Heroism Sacrifice or Success Essay

Humanities, ENG

I’m working on a English writing question and need a sample draft to help me understand better.

word count = 600

Which contributes more to heroism—sacrifice or success?

• Your essay should include:

• Introduction:

– Contains a hook which grabs the reader’s attention

? Begin by deciding on your claim and stating it as part of a concise introduction.

? Has background information and well-crafted thesis statement that outlines your arguments.

• Body paragraph’s:

– Includes the reasons outlined in your thesis statement

? Use credible evidence from the texts you have read and from your own experience to support your assertion.

? As you write, think about what someone might say to refute your argument.

? Make sure that your argument addresses those contradictory ideas.

• Conclusion:

– Restate your thesis statement

– Give your opinion or suggestion

– Give a message for the audience to take away

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Sacrifice Contributes more to Heroism than Success Argumentative Essay

User Generated

Description

Write a t least 600-word argumentative essay in which you offer a response to this question:

• Which contributes more to heroism—sacrifice or success?

• Your essay should include:

• Introduction:

- Contains a hook which grabs the reader’s attention

− Begin by deciding on your claim and stating it as part of a concise introduction.

− Has background information and well-crafted thesis statement that outlines your arguments.

• Body paragraph’s:

- Includes the reasons outlined in your thesis statement

− Use credible evidence from the texts you have read and from your own experience to support your assertion.

− As you write, think about what someone might say to refute your argument.

− Make sure that your argument addresses those contradictory ideas.

• Conclusion:

- Restate your thesis statement

- Give your opinion or suggestion

- Give a message for the audience to take away

Explanation & Answer

Attached. Outline Heroism First paragraph: Introduction Body Last Paragraph: Conclusion References Running Head: HEROISM 1 Sacrifice Contributes more to Heroism than Success Name Institution Affiliation Professor Date HEROISM 2 At times, “standing against evil is more important than overcoming it. The greatest heroes stand because it is the right thing to do, not because they believe they will walk away with their lives. Such selfless courage is a victory in itself” (Klisanin, 2016). These are the words of N.D Wilson, an American author of Young Adult Fiction. Indeed, his words echo the fact that sacrifice contributes more to heroism than success. Success is just an outcome of heroism because its path is usually composed of numerous commitments that require solemn sacrifice. Individuals should therefore decide what they are willing to sacrifice for them to become heroes, or else, they will develop confusion and doubts, which will make them, question the path they choose and ultimately make them question their goal. Even though heroism is greatly associat...

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Opinion The meaning of Hagar

The bible’s human authors put characters in play for a reason. what were they trying to tell us with the servant girl cast in the wilderness.

This essay is adapted from “Reading Genesis,” Marilynne Robinson’s literary and spiritual exploration of the Bible’s defining story of birth and regeneration (happily timed for spring — the season of the same).

Marilynne Robinson is a novelist and essayist. Her novels include “Gilead,” the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and, most recently, “Jack.” She lives in California.

The book of Genesis evokes the vernal moment, the very spring of Being, when new light awakens fecundity, and futurity, in anything it touches. When every niche of the good and possible is filled, mists rise from the primal garden and there they are, our glorious human progenitors, already complicating everything. Genesis introduces a very distinctive understanding of God and humankind and their history with one another. Within the terms of its vision, it establishes fundamental premises — that there is one God, Creator of heaven and earth, that human beings are made in His image and likeness; that they are estranged from Him nevertheless; that in response to their estrangement, He offers a covenant bond with humankind in the person of a wandering herdsman named Abraham, and with his wife Sarah and their descendants. These appear to be random assertions to which conditional assent might be given, as to the “Once, there was a man who had two sons” that introduces the parable of the prodigal son, or “Behold! Human beings living in an underground cave … here they have been since their childhood” that introduces Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.”

Adapted from “ Reading Genesis” by Marilynne Robinson, published by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. Copyright © 2024 by Marilynne Robinson.

In these two instances, a narrative strategy is being used to say something that is not factual but is to be recognized as addressing truth. In the case of Genesis, however, the few persons and events that are the givens of the narrative do not figure in tales that are complete and meaningful in themselves. Rather, the God and protagonist of Genesis has intentions through and beyond Abraham and his offspring that will, over vast reaches of time, embrace all the families of Earth. These stories can be thought of as resembling parable or allegory, with the great, limiting difference that the force of history complicates them, enriches them, draws them out.

Instruction, history and prophecy are entwined continuously with the passage of generations. After the moment of Creation, the emergence of solidity and light, there is the sequence of days, time. Finally, fragile strands of human names are threaded through duration, each name a life contingent on the one that precedes it. Value and meaning inhere in the beauty of this very fragile and arbitrary construction of reality.

The lives that are known to us as more than names, for example Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are not interpretable as they would be if they were characters in a parable or allegory. Abraham, a hero of faith and patience, dies leaving one son who, despite his miraculous birth, is the slightest possible assurance that God’s promises to Abraham, notably a multitude of descendants, will be fulfilled. The moral of Abraham’s story would seem to be that, though he is the Lord’s familiar and confidant, this does not alter the fact that history unfolds on a scale human hope or dread or foresight cannot accommodate. At the scale of history, Providence can seem so attenuated that it becomes invisible in the stream of events. In Abrahamic terms, the faithfulness of God must be, and may be, taken on faith. No one can gauge the importance or success of his or her life or the life of anyone else, or imagine its farther consequences. Nevertheless, because of the interest of Genesis in the origins of things — being, the sidereal heavens, nations, languages, the harshnesses of life — seeing persons or actions as existing in historic time, as having been seminal, with ongoing significance, is pervasive in Genesis.

Modern readers are offended by the story of Hagar, the Egyptian servant girl who, as a surrogate for childless Sarah, is given by her to Abraham as a wife. She bears him a son, then, at Sarah’s behest, is cast out into the wilderness with the child. This is indeed an ugly act, which Abraham permits and the Lord approves — perplexingly, if the proper frame of interpretation is the interactions within Abraham’s household. But Hagar’s story is, among other things, an account of the origins of the Ishmaelites, dwellers in the wilderness who are acknowledged to be descendants of Abraham, close kin of the Hebrews. Awareness of kinship never precludes hostility, but it acknowledges an important truth all the same, strikingly here in what begins as a sad tale of resentment and abuse. In so economical a text as Genesis, notice should be given to the amount of attention any figure receives. Hagar’s story in its essence is told at relative length, twice. First, pregnant with Abraham’s child, she flees from Sarah’s cruelty into the wilderness. An angel finds her there and tells her to return and submit to Sarah. If the pericope, the portion of the text used as the basis of a sermon, went only this far it could seem to argue that oppression is a state of things to be borne by those subject to it. But “the angel of the Lord also said, ‘I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.’” This reiterates the Lord’s promise to Abraham and elevates Hagar with her child to a dignity comparable to his.

If the pericope ended here, interpretation might conclude that people enduring injustice and servitude can also be enjoying the extraordinary favor of God, manifest over time. This is the story of the Hebrews. We might not regard descendants, even a nation of them, as adequate compensation for a life like Hagar’s or any alleviation of the guilt of those who mistreat her. But this is an etiological narrative, told from a point at which the Ishmaelites are already a numerous people. The story tells us that this is true, for them as for Israel, because it manifests God’s intention and His blessing. If the pericope included these verses, the sermon could argue that every nation, every people, should be assumed to be sacred at its origins. Hagar takes refuge in the wilderness and her son and descendants are desert-dwellers, hunters skilled with the bow, a literary conflation of her situation and the future it portends.

That blessing is the center of the narrative is startlingly clear in the next words of the angel, identified again as an angel of the Lord: “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ishmael; because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.” This is the first annunciation in Scripture. No angel comes to Sarah bringing a theophoric name that forever afterward will remind its bearers that they embody the attentive care of God. The name Isaac recalls Sarah’s laughter of disbelief, joy, astonishment, and this is charming. If the Gospels reflect the emphases historic Judaism placed on certain of its traditions over centuries, this story of the handmaid Hagar would appear to have been treasured, and to have had an aura of especial holiness.

The angel continues, in words that have, in translation, the possibility of undercutting every generous interpretation of this scene. In some translations, Ishmael “shall be a wild man”; in others, more accurately and to the modern reader more jarringly, “he shall be a wild ass of a man.” Here, an even broader context is summoned into consideration. First, a wild ass is a solitary, untamable wilderness creature, an onager, among those and of the kind that the Lord celebrates in the poem at the end of the book of Job. The lawfulness of the divine regime mediated by Moses exists within a wilderness, a fourth or fifth day of Creation, where creatures of proud autonomy — the lion, the ostrich, the wild ass, even great Leviathan — delight their Maker with their ferocity and elegance. The sacred energy that moves in the storm gives strength to their sinews and bones. Ishmael’s people will be like them. Wilderness is re-envisioned not as a harsh refuge for the outcast but as a homeland for the ascetic and irascible, the wild asses and the ostriches among us, whom God also loves, cares for, delights in.

There is always more to consider. Hagar’s words as she ponders what she has met with introduces important new meaning to the story. “She called the name of the Lord that spake unto her ‘Thou God seest me.’” This would be an extraordinary realization for anyone, but for an ill-used slave girl to find that her life is known and that it has this order of significance has immediate and universal relevance, greatly widening the meaning of Abraham’s encounters with God in her experiencing a near equivalent of them. Hagar’s experience can only be glimpsed obliquely in the brilliant few words in which she marvels that she has seen and been seen. If her epiphany comes at cost to the good name of Abraham, this can be taken as evidence of its importance to the text.

Four chapters on, Hagar, with Ishmael, is again driven into the wilderness by a resentful Sarah, now the mother of Isaac. Abraham again allows this, and the Lord intends it. She seems to be carrying an infant or a small child. This is inconsistent with the chronology of the text. Ishmael would have been in adolescence. This might suggest that it is another version of the earlier story, preserved though it disrupts the text. However, the effect of its placement is once again to make clear the parallel of Hagar’s experience with that of Abraham. The chapter that follows Hagar’s near loss of her child tells the famous story of the testing of Abraham and the near-sacrifice of Isaac. Hagar’s faith, whatever it is, is not tested. In her case, obedience is not a choice. The stories have in common peril to a singularly precious child and intervention at the crucial moment when an angel calls to each of them from heaven. The Lord then tells Hagar again that He will make Ishmael “a great nation.” He blesses Isaac at greater length, but also with the promise of numerous descendants. The story of Hagar and her child might be placed here to draw attention to the fact that the Lord does not intend the death of either child, that there will be a well or a ram provided to assure that they are both meant to live. Ishmael and his people will be habituated to the wilderness, at home in it. Isaac will be the bearer of a covenant and a heritage that open on all the danger and turbulence of history.

In the narrative of Genesis, Hagar has more in common with Abraham by far than does anyone else. This should be a factor in considering how those who are “chosen” are singular and how they are not. This is relevant to the much larger question of His relationship to the whole human world. That she is a woman, a slave and a foreigner makes this question especially interesting. Very commonly, it is assumed that Bronze Age people would have had demeaning views of women, especially, and to have blighted other ages through the influence of Scripture. But the Bible, by means of its singular point of view, tells us that God’s care, His estimation of worth, were not subject to the limited vision of Abraham, or of the period in which these texts were written, or of the many generations of interpreters who have rationalized prejudices by means of inattentive reading, or readings too narrow to allow the story its fullness of meaning. The old text can give us a new story, of Hagar the matriarch, attended by angels. In the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins, “there lives the dearest freshness deep down things.”

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