Self-sacrifice for kindred

Disciplines > Storytelling > Plots > Polti's Situations > Self-sacrifice for kindred

Description | Discussion | See also

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Description

Elements

• The Hero
• The Kinsman
• The Creditor or Person or Thing Sacrificed

Summary

The Hero gives up something in order to help a relative or friend.

Variants

A

1. Life sacrificed for that of a relative or loved one
2. Life sacrificed for the happiness of a relative or loved one

B

1. Ambition sacrificed for the happiness of a parent
2. Ambition sacrificed for the life of a parent

C

1. Love sacrificed for the sake of a parent's life
2. Love sacrificed for the happiness of one's child
3. Love sacrificed for the happiness of a loved one
4. Love sacrificed for the happiness of one's child, but the situation brought about by unjust laws

D

1. Life and honor sacrificed for the life of a parent or loved one
2. Modesty sacrificed for the life of a relative or a loved one

Discussion

Self-sacrifice for a kinsman is similar to self-sacrificing for an ideal, in that the ideal here is that one should put one's kin above many others things. Many cultures have this rule, that family comes before many things, even the law, and that one should perjure oneself or worse if this is what is required to support one's kith and kin.

Seeing others in a story obeying our own social rules makes us identify more strongly with them. Stories of sacrifice for kin thus are often heart-warming and affirming.

'Self-sacrifice for kindred' is the 21st of Georges Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations.

See also

Bonding principle