Heroic Sacrifice: Yea or Nay?

In many of our epic stories, we have heroes. Invariably, one of them will make a heroic sacrifice. Some classic examples are leaping on a grenade to protect others from the blast, leaping in front of a bullet to take the shot instead of somebody else, or pushing somebody out of the way of a speeding truck, but getting hit by it as a result.

Generally, this is seen as noble in the highest degree. That's why we call it heroic. I think that many people would say that they would be willing to sacrifice themselves to save others, even if it is only a few particularly close people.

But there is an opposing belief which is also quite compelling. If you sacrificed yourself to save one person, that certainly is good, but how many people could you have helped had you lived out your natural life? If you helped one person a week for 60 years, that's over 3000 people.

The idea of not doing everything you can to save somebody in need is revolting, but in a cold, purely numbers sense, doing so may allow you to do more good and help more people.

As an example, I would look at Spider-Man. I know he's fictional, but consider how many people he's saved in his lifetime. If he sacrificed himself to save one person early on, countless more would have perished in the future. Fortunately, because Spider-Man is fictional, he never really has to make a choice. He gets to find a way to save everybody and live.

In a more serious example, what about Jesus? Suppose Jesus was 15 and he saw a fellow man about to be executed for a crime. What if Jesus offered to save the man by taking his place? The one man would be saved, but Jesus would not have been able to do all of the other amazing things he did for the 19 years he would have lived after that. But, on the other hand, what would we think of Jesus if he didn't offer himself to save this poor soul?

Like I said earlier, both of these ideals are very compelling. I really can't see either one as being wrong, but I don't think they can coexist either. So what are we to do?

In writing, we can claim it comes down to the character. Is the character zealous or impulsive? They would sacrifice themselves. Is a character calculating and long-term thinking? They would let the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

But characters are an extension of ourselves. Sure, they take on a life of their own, but they're based on us. How do you feel about the heroic sacrifice? Would you do it? Can you see it either way, or do you believe that only one way is right?

Find a scenario with the heroic sacrifice option. Then write two stories: one where it's done and one where it isn't. See how different they end up. This can help you see the reasons for and against each way. If nothing else, it can serve as an example of how divergent stories can be from one major shift.