According to a poll taken by the Boston Globe in August of 2016, 75 percent of parents with children ages 8-14 would postpone their retirement in order to send their child to college. Everyday, parents make sacrifices at their own expense that end up benefiting their children. This may either be a financial, emotional or a physical sacrifice. They do this both because they feel they have an obligation to their children and because it brings them joy to see them being better off than they. Chris Cleave found these sacrifices to be evident in everyday life, some much more large scale and paramount than others. In his novel Little Bee, Cleave portrays different sacrifices, each unique in their cost and result. Some of these sacrifices show the…show more content… Chris Cleave’s Little Bee suggests that sometimes, sacrifices for others take precedence over one’s well being because people want to help those who need more than they do.
Although Sarah and Andrew are very much alike, Sarah’s empathy and sensitivity from her experience as a mother allows her to feel the pain of others and ultimately sacrifice for those who are less fortunate. Sarah displays her motherly nature when she first meets Little Bee, “[chopping] off her middle finger with one simple chop” (115) in order to save her life. Andrew’s pessimistic nature leads him to not believe there is anything they can do to save the girls, stating forcefully that he “won't do it” and that the leader of the killers is “going to kill them whatever”(115). Sarah’s willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others greatly contrasts from Andrew’s inability to sympathize for others, due to their different natures and experiences. Sarah’s sacrifice clearly shows how Cleave believes that one’s well being is not nearly as important as the lives of
