What Are The Similarities Between Harrison Bergeron And The Lottery

Karissa Klaassens

Mrs. Cruz

English 10

11 March 2023

Getting the Point Across

Many people have tried to figure out what the world would be like if everyone followed the crowd, and no one thought for themselves. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, and "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut are two examples of short stories that are depictions of what the world would be like if everyone followed the crowd. In "The Lottery" there is a small town that comes together to participate in an old tradition, a lottery. A woman is selected and then stone to death. The tradition was so old the citizens of the town did not even remember why it was a tradition. "Harrison Bergeron" is a story written about the year 2081, everyone who is smart, strong,

"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). When Harrison did question the government, the government had too much control that he died and no one even though of questioning whether what the government had done the right thing, because they were no longer able to think for themselves. Vonnegut is showing that one needs to think for themselves before it is too late and cannot even get a chance to think. Both Jackson and Vonnegut depict this world, but they do it through different