Sacrifice In The Lakota Way

Sacrifice is demonstrated in the short story “2 B R 0 2 B” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and in Chapter 6 of the collection of stories The Lakota Way by Joseph M. Marshall III. These works demonstrate the importance of giving up for others without anything expected in return. In The Lakota Way, Red Shawl sacrifices her safety for her newborn baby while in “2 B R 0 2 B”, Edward Wehling kills himself and the two doctors so that his infant triplets and grandfather can survive. Red Shawl’s sacrifice for her newborn and Edward Wehling’s sacrifice for his triplets come from similar familial love, but differ in the way they exhibit their sacrifice. The most apparent similarity between the two sacrifices is that both characters sacrifice themselves for the lives of their newborn children. Edward Wehling and his wife are

Another similarity between the sacrifices of Red Shawl and Edward Wehling is the complete selflessness of their actions. When Red Shawl and her son are in danger from the rushing water, she pleads, “Grandfather, take me if you must, but spare my son” which demonstrates that she values the life of her son over her own life (Marshall 97). Her admirable selflessness is similar to Wehling’s sacrifice for his children. Even though his grandfather volunteered to be killed for one child to survive, Wehling takes it upon himself to save him as well as the triplets. Instead of shooting himself, Wehling could have easily decided to either let his grandfather die for the third child or kill the painter who was in the room with him. However, Wehling was only killing people who were perpetuating the disgusting system, while also taking his own life as a final sacrifice. His selflessness proves the fact that he did not kill purely out of revenge, but so that his triplets and grandfather could live their lives. Both characters are willing to give up everything for the safety of their loved