Risking oneself for Others

Risking oneself for others

Risk is when there is a hazard or chance of loss. In the book The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich, Isaac and Hannah are forced to take risks for the ones they love. The situations Isaac and Hannah are faced with, concerning their loved ones, pressures them to take risks.

Throughout the book Hannah is constantly shown taking risks in order to save the ones she loves and cares about. She firstly agrees to help a Christian woman deliver a baby, thus breaking the rule which bans the Jews from doing just that. Helping a Christian woman deliver a child is risking the Jewish ghetto as a whole; if Hannah failed to deliver the child properly her whole ghetto would be blamed. However her husband is being held for ransom in Malta, Hannah is determined to gather up the money for his ransom and bring him back to Venice. When the Conte offers to pay any sum she demands, Hannah thinks to herself, "If the Conte [will] pay, she [will] go with him. The Rabbi [can] be as angry as he [wants]" (Rich 16). Although Hannah knows the consequence of delivering this baby, she is persistent in doing so as the reward for delivering a healthy baby to the Conte will mean the freedom of her husband. She is ready to risk not only her own life, but also the lives of other Jews if it meant getting her husband back and saving him from his harsh conditions. Furthermore, when helping to deliver the Contessa's baby, Hannah is forced to use her birthing spoons, an instrument that she created to help deliver babies more easily. This instrument is frowned down-upon as it is believed to be witchcraft, if the public found out about this Hannah will be ruined. However, knowing this, she still uses the birthing spoons in front of the other midwife to deliver the child. As she took the spoons out of her bag, "Giovanna (other midwife) [stares] at Hannah as though she [sees] a witch. If only Hannah could have banished Giovanna from the room - but she [needs] her to support Lucia (Contessa)" (76). By using such an instrument in front of the midwife, she put herself up for danger of the public gaining knowledge about her spoons. In addition, she kept the other midwife in the same room, as if she was not present, Hannah will not be able to successfully deliver the child. Hannah risked her life and the chance to ransom her husband back to save both the mother and the child. Finally, when her sister is killed by the Conte's brother, Hannah, in order to save Matteo, the Conte's son, runs away from the house with Matteo fully aware of the guards. Right after the death of her sister she takes advantage of the distraction as she, "[takes] him (Matteo) in her arms...and slipped down the back staircase to the canal below, moving as fast as her satin-slippery legs would carry her" (259). Hannah knows that if she gets caught by the soldiers, who are near her house, she will be killed. Although to keep Matteo safe from the Conte's brother she flees with Matteo risking both hers and