The Burden

The people of Odessa place an unmistaken burden on the shoulders of their sons to become champions every year so that they can take the triumph as if it were their own. The result of this is that their children can never leave their triumphs or defeats of that short time behind them. It will follow them no matter what they make of their lives, and it is unfair that they must do so. The author is trying to give more when he says “The solemn ritual made them seem like boys going off to fight a war for the benefit of someone else, unwitting sacrifices to a strange and powerful god” (Bissinger 11) ,which brings back the trouble and burden on their backs because their parents and people of Odessa want them to succeed as they did.