The Pain of a Child

I actually missed class due to a fall time bug that has been passed around, but from reading my classmates blogs I think I understand the story. A town's happiness is dependent on the mistreatment of a child. This is disgusting... on many levels. For one, a child cannot defend itself. For a whole town to mistreat one innocent adolescent is beyond me. Another thought to dwell upon; does not our misery make us human? It has been said that the gods are jealous of us because our existence is temporary and due to that fact we get to experience life in a much larger sense. How does one know what happiness is without misery to contradict it? This story seems far-fetched and illogical. From a moral standpoint the people in the town are wrong and from a philosophical standpoint it is against nature to not feel misery. Although this sort of thought is a testament to peoples greed and willingness to harm others for their own self fulfillment.