ipl-logo

Compare And Contrast The Lottery And Harrison Bergeron

782 Words4 Pages

What society may consider normal and moral may in fact be immoral and wrongful to humanity. The stories “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross collectively deal with people who live in seemingly dystopian civilizations and how they deal with their situation. “Harrison Bergeron” is the story of a future United States where citizens are forced to wear handicaps to be equal or face dire consequences. “The Lottery” tells of the annual lottery in a small town where the villagers sacrifice one of their own.The Hunger Games has twelve districts send children to fight in the Capitol’s Hunger Games .The protagonist of each story has a conflict against society that has their …show more content…

Harrison has a moment of defiance when he goes onto live television and declares, “I am Emperor!” (Vonnegut Jr 5). The dystopian society in Harrison Bergeron is one controlled by a powerful and enforcing government. Harrison’s words on television are not taken lightly by society. Although the story suggests Harrison is a madman, he knows that his actions will lead to his death, but for a cause he believes in. Harrison’s physical act of defiance is symbolic of him setting himself free. “Harrison tore the straps off his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support five thousand pounds. (Vonnegut Jr 5). By doing this in front of everyone in the United States, Harrison sent a message that the handicaps impair people more than it makes them equal. His removal of the handicaps was a one way trip. The only way for the society to see the dangers of total equality is to expose the Handicapper General as a brutal dictator. Harrison’s revolt is an example of trying to make a difference, even when faced with a life or death …show more content…

Tessie’s struggle represents a futile attempt at proclaiming society is not as fair as when she protests, “You did not give him enough to pick any paper he wanted! I saw you! It wasnt fair!” (Vonnegut 5). Tessie knows her husband chose from the lottery fairly. Mr Summers pays no attention to her protests to redraw the lottery. Additionally, Tessie having an outburst could give some people a second thought about what their own customs are in society. Tessie’s dying words are, “It isnt fair! It isnt right!” (Vonnegut 8). She makes one final effort to plea for mercy before she is killed. Her fate was sealed once she drew her card and she would have no turning back. The Lottery shows a society in which people show no signs of knowing what their doing is

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Virginia And Harrison Bergeron

    486 Words  | 2 Pages

    All this equality was due to 211th,212th,and 213th amendment to the constitution,and unceasing vigilance of agents of the united states handicapper General. ”This showed how Harrison was forced to be like everyone else when he aspired to be more. Because so”And it was in that

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between Harrison Bergeron And The Lottery

    881 Words  | 4 Pages

    "The Lottery" shows this by showing how people follow traditions without thinking about the consequences or leaving the tradition in the past and when one leaves the tradition they are viewed as a "pack of young fools" (Jackson, 32). Jackson is critiquing society and how they do not like to think for themselves till it is too late. Tessie Hutchinson did not question the lottery till it was involved in her family's life and then her life, then it was too late to think for herself. " Harrison Bergeron" depicts this in a different way, by showing what the world would be like if society did not question the government. Everyone is like everyone else, and when a person is not, the government gives them handicaps so they are not different, this causes them unable to think for themselves or take "unfair advantage to their brains" (Vonnegut, 3).

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Harrison Bergeron And The Lottery

    512 Words  | 3 Pages

    However in the stories “The lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and “Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. Therefore we see how structure and tradition can result to a dystopia. The cause and the effect that is similar in both of the stories is both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is both of these stories demonstrate how people force them self in a tradition that they have been told to follow even if they have an option to seek for change The first story I will be focusing on is, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. In this story that being equal to one another is not always the best way to live, everyone is different for a reason.

    Read More

  • Comparing Symbolism In The Reaping And The Lottery

    860 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has those family traditions that they follow blindly, but in most cases everyone’s family tradition does not result in a dead family member or friend. In the story ‘The Lottery” a small village town has an annual lottery that they host every year that results in one dead member of their village. They choose their winner by gathering all the towns people’s names into a black box and drawing first a family from the town and then a member from within that family. In the film known as The Hunger Games, the people of Panem also follow the annual tradition of a lottery where the winners die. Although both stories share similar properties such as symbolism, they differ when it comes to the society and protagonists of each one.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Hunger Games And The Lottery

    103 Words  | 1 Pages

    The story of The Lottery instantly reminded me of The Hunger Games as well. There are some very visible parallels between The Lottery and the reaping ceremonies of The Hunger Games. In both cases innocent people are selected at random to be killed and there 's nothing that can be done about it. Very similarly, each year people gather in their town square to meet their fates. We don 't know when the tradition of the lottery started and it 's impossible to know when it will end.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Lottery And The Hunger Games

    455 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the movie, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, tells a tale of dystopian communities where they have to choose a sacrifice by drawing their names and having them to kill to survive to make sure they have enough food for their communities. Even though both stories are violent and cruel, they both explain the purpose of a dystopian life. First, some similarities between both stories, “The Lottery” and “The Hunger Games” are that they are both in a rural community and that their children are involved with this yearly event too. Everyone is dressed poorly and their communities both don’t have enough food.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Lottery And The Hunger Games

    518 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live” (Norman Cousins). The story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the movie “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins are both about death and dying. In the lottery people are to pull a paper out and if they have the black symbol, they will get stoned to death. In the hunger games, a piece of paper that has a black mark on it is drawn.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Giver And The Lottery

    750 Words  | 3 Pages

    .and then they were upon her” (Lowry 11). Mrs. Hutchinson’s protest proves to readers that in this situation, people are likely to complain only if they are the ones being harmed. It is to be noted that Tessie is complaining that it isn’t fair as she is claiming that the lottery process wasn’t fair, but not that the lottery itself isn’t fair. This shows that the only person who questions the tradition questions it since they are being harmed by it themselves, but in order to eliminate dangerous traditions, people need to think twice about practices that are unfair.

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games And The Lottery Similarities

    264 Words  | 2 Pages

    Compare and Contrast Name Trinity Morse “The Lottery” and Hunger Games Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins are about dystopian societies in which life and death events occur. They are similar in a way and not similar in a way. They are similar because this event happens once a year. In “The Lottery” the whole Village Square gets rocks and throws them at the winner they will throw the rocks until the winner is died. In The Hunger Games they get slips and put them in a jar and a special person with pull a girl and a boy from the jar.

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games And The Lottery Comparison Essay

    1015 Words  | 5 Pages

    We all have heard “You can't always get your way.” Sometimes we don't get what we want, or you would tell your siblings that when they annoy you. It is true that we, as people, don't always get our way. The same thing could be said in the two texts “The Lottery” and “The Hunger Games.” In both texts characters face eternal peace.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Lottery And Harrison Bergeron

    368 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Lottery and Harrison Bergeron, both share common themes and differences in their stories. One would be that both societies claim theses “traditions give them unity and equality”. Another theme commonly shared is both stories show how people can be blind to tradition. Although these stories are similar they have their differences one being Harrison Bergeron tried dyeing like a martyr while Ms. Hutchinson died trying to save her own life. In both of theses stories society believes that their barbaric traditions bring them equality and unity.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    380 Words  | 2 Pages

    Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, ‘All of us took the same chance.(Jackson 11)’” In these lines Tessie has just found out her family has been chosen and is yelling how it is not fair. This call for change clearly receives opposition. In fact, even her husband tells her to “shut up” when he knows what the outcome of the lottery will be for the chosen one. This opposition to change toward people like Tessie can also be seen in history.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Harrison Bergeron

    1515 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the short story, most people see Vonnegut’s character as an immature fourteen year-old boy. People can see this easily when he states his goal is to become an “emperor” and how “Everybody must do what [he] say[s] at once!” (3). Harrison then goes on to stamping his foot in a way most people would see from a child who is throwing a tantrum. This is important because when Harrison points out that he only wants to be an emperor, it really shows how little he cares about the message the people saw and more about want he wants.

    Read More

  • How Does Shirley Jackson Use Dramatic Irony In The Lottery

    596 Words  | 3 Pages

    She realizes that this is an unpleasurable and outdated tradition and should be forgotten only because she got chosen. However, if her family’s name wasn’t drawn, she would have blindly followed the ritual, thrilled to have escaped a gruesome, sacrificial death. As a reader it is easy to empathize for Tessie since she or others don’t have a voice in their community or are even able to look at the bigger picture and see that the lottery is unnecessary. Not only does the dramatic irony of the lottery allow the reader to understand Tessie’s view, it creates a similar feeling towards Bill Hutchinson. For example, “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand.

    Read More

  • Human Nature In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1220 Words  | 5 Pages

    Human nature can be characterized as being positive, capable of altruism and goodness which sets humankind apart from savage animals; however, human nature possesses a dark side, namely cruelty, and it is capable of barbarism like any beast. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, cruelty is part of human nature, and the participants of the lottery demonstrate human cruelty through violence towards one another; markedly, by exhibiting desensitization to violence and the acceptance of violence resulting in internal dysfunction which is perpetuated yearly. Participants of the lottery belong to a close-knit community, and every year the community hosts an enigmatic lottery draw. The conclusion of the lottery draw is only mysterious until the outcome

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast The Lottery And Harrison Bergeron

Open Document