Selfless In William Goldman's The Princess Bride

Westley, the handsome hero in William Goldman’s classic novel The Princess Bride, is selfless. He is selfless because he willingly sacrifices his life to save the lives of the people around him, particularly Buttercup, Westley’s true love. Westley does this with little regard for his own well-being. Instead, he is all about putting others’ needs before his own. This is because he can see beyond his own concerns. Thus, he is able to be there for others, particularly Buttercup, when the need arises.
One time that Westley showed he was selfless was after Prince Humperdinck of Florin hired a trio of bandits called the Sicilian Crowd to kidnap Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck’s future wife. This trio of bandits included Inigo, a vengeful swordsman, Fezzik, a kind-hearted giant, and Vizzini, an …show more content…
In this boat was a mysterious stranger dressed entirely in black. Only later does the reader discover that the Man in Black is Westley. Being pursued, the Sicilian Crowd sailed as quickly as possible to the Cliffs of Insanity, 1,000-foot cliffs that lined the Guilder shoreline. Upon reaching the Cliffs, Vizzini, Inigo, and Buttercup climbed on Fezzik, and Fezzik proceeded to climb a rope dangling from the top of the Cliff. As Fezzik ascended, the Sicilian Crowd discovered that using the very same rope, “the Man in Black began to climb. Not quickly, of course. And not without great effort. But still, there was no doubt that he was, in spite of the sheerness of the Cliffs, heading in an upward direction” (117). Consequently, when the Sicilian Crowd reached the top of the Cliffs with Buttercup, Vizzini immediately cut the rope. Vizzini assumed this would cause the Man in Black to plummet to his death. This, however, did not happen. Instead, Westley slowly climbed the Cliffs using only his hands and feet. When he did finally reach the top, only Inigo, the master swordsman, was there. The others, Vizzini,