Personal Sacrifice

Personal sacrifice can be perceived in one of four ways: shocking, spontaneous, sterile, or selfless. Being able to find the true meaning behind an individual's sacrifice as well as pinpointing its exact effects can be extremely tricky, and at times, impossible should one not be equipped with the skills needed to identify such variables. Nevertheless, rhetorical devices such as epiphanies, telegraphic sentences, colloquial language, and cleverly crafted diction are all capable of revealing any effects or clandestine reasoning of one’s altruistic act. An act of sacrifice is capable of revealing the depth of compassion that exists between two people while also triggering feelings of significance within the person benefiting from another’s selfless
Zora Neale Hurston begins Their Eyes Were Watching God by revealing the past of Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, a former slave. It is acknowledged that only days after Nanny’s child Leafy is born, Nanny is forced to run away from the plantation, child in hand, or risk Leafy being sold off to a different slave owning family. She contemplates her situation, but almost instantaneously her mind is made up, “Ah knowed mah body wasn’t healed, but Ah couldn’t consider dat” (Hurston 72). In this instance, Nanny completely disregards her own health and ability to thrive as a free woman, should she escape successfully, in order to make the safety of Leafy her top priority. Hurston’s use of broken English, or in other words, colloquial language, showcases Nanny’s lack of education. Through the understanding that Nanny makes a huge sacrifice and takes a huge risk, the reader is able to better interpret the great amount of love that Nanny feels for Leafy. Quite impressively, some years into the future, Nanny was able to find a safe home to live in and enroll Leafy in school. Despite her inability to speak like or be accepted by educated white people, Nanny does everything in her power to provide Leafy with the best resources she can get her hands on. Out of Nanny’s control however, Leafy is raped by a teacher one day at school, and upon her return home, she was never the same again. Speaking to Janie, her granddaughter, Nanny recalls Leafy’s post pregnancy experience, “And after you was born she took to drinkin’ likker and stayin’ out nights. Couldn’t git her to stay here and nowhere else. Lawd knows where she is right now.” With Leafy’s loss of innocence came the loss of layaway and reliance on Nanny as a care provider. Considering all the sacrifices Nanny has made in the past from deciding not to get