Through Steinbeck’s literary techniques he explains the causes of Lennie’s death through the theme, characterization and foreshadowing. Although Steinbeck was able to leave his readers with many thoughts to think about from the story, one of the themes that clearly show the cause of Lennie’s death is sacrificing. Even though by killing Lennie, George lifts a heavy burden off his chest for he no longer has to take care of Lennie and deal with all the troubles Lennie keep on making for him. However, George has to sacrifice his friendship and love because by shooting Lennie he loses a friend whom had always been keeping him company and shares a dream with him, to have their own farm where they would share and live together. Other than that, it was not easy for George to shoot Lennie but he had to do it because if he didn’t he knew that Curley would and in a more painful way.
Before Lucie weds Darnay, Carton professes his love to her, though he still persists in seeing himself as essentially worthless. This scene marks a vital transition for Carton and lays the foundation for the supreme sacrifice that he makes at the novel's end. Carton's death has provided much material for scholars and critics of Dickens's novel. Some readers consider it the inevitable conclusion to a work obsessed with the themes of redemption and resurrection. According to this interpretation, Carton becomes a Christ-like figure, a selfless martyr whose death enables the happiness of his beloved and ensures his own immortality.
His hypocrisy, however, eats away at him until his health fails. Recognizing that death is imminent, he chooses to purify his soul at the last minute by confessing his sin publicly on the scaffold. This
In order to appease Artemis, Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon did not want to murder his daughter, but did what he had to do for his people as he “steeled himself to become the sacrifice of his daughter to aid a war fought to avenge a woman’s loss and to pay beforehand for his ships” (Agamemnon: 224-227). This sacrifice scene is depicted gruesomely, as Agamemnon and his friends murder Iphigenia, “by gagging her lovely mouth to stifle a cry that would have brought a curse upon his houses” (Agamemnon: 235-237). In context of the Half Blood Prince, Severus Snape murdered Dumbledore as a sacrifice for the good of the wizarding world, however this was unknown by other characters at the time. Snape and Dumbledore had preplanned this murder in order for Snape to prove his allegiance with the enemy force that he was playing a double agent for.
Antigone believes that without burying her brother he will not have a good after-life. Antigone even goes as far as burying him twice. Antigone is more admirable in that she is not selfish. She cared for her brother so much that she would go through all this trouble to give him a good after-life. She wanted to marry Haimon but sacrificed this to bury her brother.
On the night of their wedding day, Victor remembers the promise that the monster gave to him about seeing him on his wedding day and goes out in search of him. When he hears Elizabeth scream, he realizes that it wasn’t him that the monster had planned to kill, but Elizabeth. “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval and lastly of my wife; even at that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends were safe from the malignity of the fiend…,” (Shelley, 200). Victor realizes that all he held dear was destroyed because of his selfish ambitions. When his father dies, however, is when he truly feels alone.
In the story of “ Abbey Grange” of the killing of Sir Eustace Brackenstall by Captain Croker the lover of Lady Brackenstall. Holmes lets Captain Croker go because he did the crime out of passion because he wanted to save his lover form the hands of a violent husband. “I have so much sympathy for you that if you choose to disappear in the next twenty four hours I will promise you that no-one will hinder you. Holmes shows compassion and decides to show mercy and lets him go. But with “The Adventures of the Speckled Band” Sherlock Holmes admits that the death of Dr Grimesby Roylott “is not likely to weigh very heavily upon my conscience”.This could be that Holmes didn’t like the man and that Dr Grimesby’s motives were selfish when killing his stepdaughter and that Holmes didn’t feel anything towards his death because he felt that justice was
Life’s Greatest Lessons: An Analysis of “Tuesdays With Morrie” 1) A number of important lessons are given by Morrie in this book, such as “‘everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it,’” (Albom 80), and “‘Love wins. Love always wins,’” (Albom 40), the most significant of these lessons is “‘Learn to die, and you learn how to live,’” (Albom 83). Morrie gives this piece of advice to Mitch after he asks how one can prepare for death. What Morrie means by saying this is that in order to prepare for death, a person has to be conscious that they can die at any time, and they need to be aware that every person has a limited time on Earth. Also, Morrie, along with this quote, mentions that every person has a bird on their shoulder that will tell them when they are going to die.
Although in the novel Carton spends majority of his life in idleness with an uncaring attitude, the selflessness of his death brings hope for humanity to change. The novel spends much time describing the outrageous acts committed by the privileged and the outraged peasants; it expresses the fact that throughout these violent actions there will be a better society. Dickens expands his theme with the character of Doctor Manette. Early on in the novel, Lorry has an imaginary conversation with him in which he says that Manette has been “recalled to life.” As this statement implies, the doctor’s eighteen-year imprisonment has formed a death of sorts. Lucie’s love enables Manette’s spiritual renewal, and her cradling of him on her breast reinforces this notion of rebirth.
The personality traits of insanity and intellectuality also contribute greatly to the death of Hamlet. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his procrastination. Without a doubt, Hamlet portrays procrastination and indecisiveness multiple times in the play. The ghost of Hamlet’s father visits him in the beginning of the play informing Hamlet that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius: “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears the crown”(I.v.44,45). Furthermore, Shakespeare exhibits how Hamlet chose to devise a plan of acting mad, rather than avenging his father’s death immediately, progressing to his demise.