Themes and message

Sacrifice

The short story "2BR02B" by Kurt Vonnegut explores the concept of sacrifice. The functioning of the dystopian society presented in the text depends entirely on the sacrifice of people who need to die so that children can be born. As the survival of the species is placed above the survival of the individual, people are expected to make this sacrifice of their own free will.

It falls to the expecting parents to “persuade” someone to die, so their child can be born. It is very likely that the person who eventually agrees to such a sacrifice is a close relative of the parents. In Wehling’s case, it is his maternal grandfather. 

The society’s attitude towards the people who make the sacrifice is expressed by the hostess’ final words: “ ‘Thank you, sir (…) Your city thanks you, your country thanks you, your planet thanks you. But the deepest thanks of all is from...