How Does Martyrdom Affect Society

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Martyrdom’s Effect on Society
Throughout history, normal-everyday people rise to power, only to coerce or ruin a society and its morals. There are also some who rise and fight back. In stories and in real life, these “heroes” who fight back usually end up dead. Even today, a martyr’s sacrifice is essential in most of society’s changes.
One example of martyrdom in today’s literature is shown through the short story written by Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron.” In this story, a society is ruled through “handicaps” in order to “equalize” the citizens, but this bar of equality was set at a low standard. So, overall, the society was brought to a very low level. Harrison Bergeron was different though. Diana Moon Glampers, the handicapper general attached various items to him, in order to make his appearance grotesque. That did not matter to Harrison though. Despite the handicaps, he displayed his views of freedom with a booming voice, and it was for this reason that he was imprisoned. The régime knew that he was smart, and this scared them. After escaping from prison, he dances with a ballerina, both free of their handicaps. It is then that Diana Moon Glampers burst into the room, killing the ballerina and Harrison on live television. Their deaths were soon forgotten, due to the mental handicap, limiting their memory and intelligence capacity. Their death was not in vain though. They achieved true freedom, something that no one had ever achieved before.
The most common martyr in history would be Jesus of Nazareth, whom is the basis for Christianity. He claimed to be “King of the Jews” and was later imprisoned him for this small statement. They mauled him until he could barely stand, and eventually crucified him. They forced him to ...

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...ster. Her father was the only family member to survive and returned to the annex after the war was over. While rummaging through the annex, her father found her diary, where she wrote everything that had happened over the course of time. He published it and sold millions of copies around the world. He refused to let his daughter die in vain. She showed that even in the shadow of death, you can be a light of happiness. This indicates that without sacrifice, personal freedom is unachievable.
Throughout history, man has been mistreated in some form. During these times of need, at least one person has stood up for their beliefs and helped others do the same. The U.S. Constitution states that man has the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This notion, of course, was sparked by the detriment of many martyrs who were willing to give for such a cause.

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