The Prestige - Essay on Sacrifice

Sacrifice

The two main characters of The Prestige, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, have a history that goes back to when they were just audience shills. An intense rivalry sparked between them after Angier suspected Borden of being responsible for the accidental death of his wife, Julia, during a live show. Though the two men stopped working together, they began competing for the title of “the greatest magician.” Throughout the movie, we see their obsession over beating each other’s magical performances lead to sacrificial acts. Angier and Borden made familial, personal, and financial sacrifices in order to attain respect and fame. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, family, personal, and financial needs come before the need to achieve peers’ respect. Their obsessive and sacrificial behavior, and lack of ability to prioritize their needs, set them on the path to destruction.

Angier and Borden both sacrifice their ties to their family for career success and fame. When Julia asks Angier why he changed his name, Angier says, “I promised my family I wouldn't embarrass them with my theatrical endeavors.” Angier sacrifices his family ties for a career that is obviously not looked upon with great respect in America. In Julia’s death, we can see that Angier is even willing to put his wife in danger to promote his career. Borden demonstrates the same willingness to sacrifice family by alienating his wife, Sarah, and lying to her about certain aspects of his personal life. Sarah tells Borden that she can’t live in their current situation. Borden says that they have everything they could ever want, what more could they possibly need? She says, “I want you to be honest with me. No tricks, no lies, no secrets.” Had Borden told her that it was Fallon, his twin brother, who was in love with Olivia, Sarah wouldn’t have committed suicide. Angier and Borden both demonstrate the willingness to sacrifice family ties in order to seek fame and glory. On Maslow’s Hierarchy, a supportive and communicative family is just above the need for respect and fame. Though respect and fame are necessary for their happiness, family comes before that need on the list. By making less important needs a priority over truly important ones, Borden and Angier put themselves on track to unhappiness.

Two events foreshadow the personal sacrifices Borden and Angier must make. The first time these sacrifices are foreshadowed is when they watch Chung Ling Soo perform the “Fishbowl Trick.” After the show, Angier and Borden see Soo pretend to be assisted into a carriage. Borden says, “This is the trick. This is why no one detects his method… Total devotion to his art… Utter self-sacrifice. It’s the only way to escape this.” Cutter foreshadows the moral sacrifices Angier will have to make by saying, “If you want to be a magician, you’re gonna have to get your hands dirty.” Angier replies that he “doesn’t want to kill any doves.” At the time, Angier was a bit hesitant about getting his hands dirty. When he is surprised that Cutter’s device wouldn’t actually test his moral integrity, Cutter says that he only needed to know that he was only willing to make moral sacrifices. Later, as Angier lies dying before Borden, both characters reveal several personal sacrifices they had made in the course of their careers. Borden and his brother had sacrificed their identity and their hands in order to perfect “The Transported Man.” They constantly switched roles of “Fallon” or “Borden,” and at one point a flashback shows Borden cutting his brother’s fingers off. Angier argues that his sacrifice was greater. “I’ve made sacrifices…It took courage to climb into that machine every night, not knowing if I’d be the Prestige, or the man in the box.” In the end, Angier did end up getting his hands dirty, just as Cutter foreshadowed. It’s odd that Angier was morally against killing doves, yet he was able to kill himself over a hundred times, just to beat Borden. Their personal sacrifices violated the human need for personal