Is Sacrifice Love?

In Hope Leslie the theme of sacrifice was prevalent, not only in characters’ who literally saved each others’ lives, (Magawisca, Everell, Hope Leslie, and Digby) but also in the love lives of the characters at the end of the novel.  Hope Leslie and Everell are both willing to sacrifice their own happiness in order to make Esther and her parents comfortable.  Hope loves her Esther so much that she would rather be alone than interfere in her best friends’ relationship.  Everell does not want Esther to be upset or to feel unloved, and he is also confused by the fact that Hope is pushing Esther onto him.

     Esther serves as an example of the complexity of sacrifice.  She shows that the sacrifice Everell was willing to make, while he might have felt it was selfless, was somewhat selfish.  In her letter she asks, "…would it not have been better as well as kinder, to have said, ‘Esther, I do not love thee,’ than to have permitted me to follow my silly imaginings and thereby have sacrificed my happiness for this world—and thine—and Hope Leslie’s?” (360).  Also, Faith Leslie is unwilling to sacrifice her happiness for her sister’s happiness.  She knows that this kind of sacrifice would be detrimental to their relationship.  Hope still does not understand how her sister is willing to leave as she only sees this situation from her own point of view, so she asks Magawisca if there is a charm that could “win her sister’s affections” (344).  Magawisca explains to Hope the pain that Faith would experience when she says, “Ask your own heart, Hope Leslie, if any charm could win your affections from Everell Fletcher?” (344).  Overall, I gathered that while sacrifice can be an act of love, since it is a complex action, it can also be a selfish act that will hurt all parties involved.