Examples Of Sacrifice In Gwilan's Harp, Last Leaf

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The greatest gift anyone can offer is the sacrifice of their own life or a major part of their life. But would anyone feel compelled to sacrifice everything? Each of these stories outlines how the main character must sacrifice everything they have, sometimes including their lives to benefit someone else? Selfless sacrifices serve as a meaningful story that not only provides entertainment, but a lesson to learn. Why did each of these individuals feel compelled to sacrifice what they had? Gwilan’s Harp, Last Leaf, and The Washwoman connect because the main characters all shared something in common; they sacrificed what meant most to them. Gwilan’s Harp is a story about a woman who grows as an individual when she is faced with difficult circumstances. She built her life around her love for music especially her Harp. After she faces a circumstance that prohibits her from playing her harp, she is forced to rethink her life and …show more content…

Without fail, she plodded to her home with an oversize load of clothes and returned exactly two weeks later. One winter when the wind and ice were especially cold, the washwoman struggled mightily to take the load home. She however, managed to make it home. The family waited almost two months before the eighty-year-old woman collapsed in the house with their load of clothes. She rested a bit, then headed home promising to come soon for the new load. She never returned. “The wash she had returned was her last effort on this earth. She had been driven by an indomitable will to return the property to their rightful owner, to fulfill the task she had undertaken.” Not only did the washwoman sacrifice her life for the family, but she laid a meaningful impression on the narrator. The wash was such an insignificant part of their lives, yet she sacrificed her life for it. Sometimes people make the biggest sacrifices for the smallest

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