How Does Borden Show Sacrifice

961 Words4 Pages
Author James Allen once wrote, “He who would accomplish much must sacrifice much.” This is true of Alfred Borden and his twin brother, as the two men decided to live as one person for the success of their magic act. Forgoing individual lives affected not only the men in question, but also the unsuspecting women who fall in love with each of them along the way. They feel this is necessary for the triumph of their show, but quickly learn that maintaining the facade harms not only their own sanity but the well-being of those around them. In the film The Prestige by Christopher Nolan, the Borden twins’ willingness to sacrifice individual lives and lie to the women they love for the sake of their act demonstrates extreme devotion to their craft.…show more content…
Toward the beginning of the film, a little boy in the audience starts crying after Borden makes a dove disappear during a trick. In an attempt to mollify the boy, the magician produces another bird and says, “See? He’s fine.” The child unknowingly references Borden’s eventual end when he sniffles, “But where’s his brother?” (Nolan) Though the child was merely talking about how one of the two identical birds had to die for the sake of the trick, this crucial scene lets the film’s viewing audience know that the Borden twins would eventually wind up in this scenario: one dying to preserve the the illusion. Angier made an astute observation when he said, “He lives his act, don’t you see?”(Nolan) Angier was correct in more ways than he knew. Just like the Chinese magician who pretended to be crippled, the brothers sacrificed their entire lives for a single trick. These sacrifices and more that the two Bordens willingly made to further their career shows the undying devotion both had toward perfecting the…show more content…
Right before Sarah kills herself, it is implied that she had started to figure out his secret, but took her own life as an alternative to dealing with the reality of the situation. When Cutter is teaching Borden’s daughter, Jess, the three parts to a magic trick, he explains why the Prestige is so important. Something extraordinary happens, yet people are not really looking, because according to Cutter, “You want to be fooled.” (Nolan) This is also true of life. People see the good in others, not because they want to, but because they are too afraid of what they’ll find if they choose to see the truth. People will go out of their way to avoid the truth if the truth is one that is not convenient for them. While the dedication shown by the Borden twins to the success of their career was incredible, their secret was also kept safe by the fact that people would much rather turn a blind eye than accept a reality that does not fit their
Show More
Related

  • Dynamic Characters In The Prestige

    644 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the film The Prestige, Christopher Nolan creates interesting and dynamic characters by illustrating what it’s like to become your own enemy. He does this by making the character, Robert Angier, go against his morals to feed his own obsession. After Angier’s wife Julia dies, he becomes obsessed with finding out the secrets to his work partner, Alfred Borden’s disappearing man trick. Angier’s makes an attempt to override Borden’s trick, by pursing an illusion without using real magic. Angier’s then

    Read More

More about How Does Borden Show Sacrifice

Open Document