A Selfless Gesture

Imagine how it feels investing time in obtaining something, and then finding it in yourself to allow others to make use of it. There are very few people in this word who would give up something that they've desired to another individual of group of individuals. How would you describe someone who would do such a thing? A lot of people would call that person stupid, but I'd like to describe them as selfless and altruistic. In Isak Dinesen's Babette's Feast, Babette, a maid and "undercover" cook from Paris, comes upon a large sum of money but doesn't use it for a well deserved trip to Paris, but rather used it on two woman, Martine and Philippa, and their friends.
When I look at Babette in this story, it makes me think of Ms. Shen Te from Bertolt Brecht's The Good Women of Setzuan. It seems that in Brecht's play and in this Dinesen's story, there is a common them, which is a "good" person. For those who haven't read the story, Babette enters the house of two sisters as a maid and cook. After sometime trying, she wins a sum of money that she puts into making a meal or feast for friends. When she is asked by the sister if she is going back to Paris, she replies, "No...And how will I go back to Paris, Mesdames? I have no money...A dinner for twelve at the Cafe Anglais would cost ten thousand francs" (56-57). In response, the lady's say, "...you ought not to have given away all you had for our sake" (57).
After looking the conversation held between characters in this story, I finally understand what makes a "good" person. Put others before yourself. When you put others first, you avoid running into a lot of problems like being egocentric, stealing, coveting, putting others down, etc. Like any other people, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, or any one else you can think of, in history deemed admirable, Babette put others before herself. As we learned later on in the story, Babette finds it in herself to make a place for those who sought to spitefully use her in her heart.
So, to you, readers and persons reading this blog: When you consider the people around you with whom you interact, look in the mirror and ask yourself the question, "What kind of person am I?". If you find yourself being the opposite of Babette, Shen Te, or any of the many other people mentioned in this blog, make a change for the better and advance humanity because overtime, we have fallen by the wayside.

Works Cited
Dinesen, Isak. Anecdotes of Destiny ; And, Ehrengard. New York: Vintage, 1993. Print.