Stories of Love and Sacrifice

Writers and moviemakers understand the value of sacrifice. Stories that model self-sacrifice abound in both books and movies. The great thing about the choices in the sidebars is that they do not just depict acts of love and self-sacrifice. In each of these stories, an act of loving self-sacrifice is the very pivot on which the whole story turns.

A great deal of the pleasure to be had from a story derives from seeing the satisfactory resolution of a conflict or problem that has grown more and more complex through most of the plot. If you start looking for it, you will be surprised how often that moment of resolution comes as the result of a character giving up his rights and making a sacrifice for the sake of a greater good.

Consider Charlotte, the spider in Charlotte’s Web, whose dying act saved the life of Wilbur the pig. Or consider Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, whose willingness to die in Edmund’s place solved a dilemma that not only seemed insoluble but also threatened the planet’s happiness.

Self-sacrifice in stories does not always have to be a matter of life or death. Consider the moment in the movie Chariots of Fire when the runner Eric Liddell has come to a complete impasse with the Olympic Committee over his unwillingness to compete on the Sabbath. Lord Lindsay saves the day by giving up his right — a right he earned through much hard work and dedication — to run in the 400-meter race. Or consider the big sister in the picture book Dogger, who gives up the teddy bear she had won at a carnival to buy back a beloved toy dog her brother had lost.

There is a reason stories of love and sacrifice resonate. They reflect the greatest truths of faith. Everyone sins. When you go the way of the world, things proceed from bad to worse. The more you insist on your rights — or, more to the point, as you follow your natural tendency to grasp for more than you have a right to — conflicts arise that seem utterly insoluble until somebody is willing to give up his rights. Then you see reconciliation,

Movies That Hinge on Self-Sacrifice

• Chariots of Fire (1981, Not Rated) • The Princess Bride (1987, Not Rated)

• E. T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, • The Sound of Music (1965, Not Not Rated) Rated)

• High Noon (1952, Not Rated) • Ushpizin (2004, Rated PG)

• The Magnificent Seven (1960, Not Rated)

• The Iron Giant (1999, Rated PG)

• The Prince of Egypt (1998, Rated PG)

For more ideas, refer to Michael Gurian’s guide What Stories Does My Son Need? (Tarcher, 2000).

Children’s Books That Hinge on Self-Sacrifice

Picture books:

• The Boy Who Held Back the Sea by Thomas Locker (Puffin, 1993)

• Dogger by Shirley Hughes (Red Fox, 2007)

• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (Running Press, 2007)

Chapter books

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (various publishers)

• Holes by Louis Sachar (various publishers)

• Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (various publishers)

• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expuery (Harcourt, 2003)

• The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson (Harper Trophy, 1989)

• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press, 2007)

• Sounder by William H. Armstrong (Harper Trophy, 2005)

• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (various publishers)

For more great book recommendations, see William Kilpatrick’s guide Books that Build Character (Touchstone, 1994).

healing, and resolution.

In such acts is heard the faintest echo of the great sacrifice celebrated this season. Though He existed in the very form of God, Jesus “did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage ... Instead, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross” (Philippians 2: 6-8). When love trumps self-interest, the

plot resolves, and the kingdom of God exerts its power in the kingdoms of the world. 

Jonathan Rogers is the author of the Wilderking Trilogy on virtue, fiction, and a sense of adventure. Visit www. broadmanholman.com for more information about the book series. Jonathan lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife and six children.

MARCH 2008 PARENTLIFE 27