“Repent Harlequin Said the Tictockman” by Harlan Ellison wrote in 1965 is about a time keeping government trying to achieve complete efficiency. The 1961 science fiction short story “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is about complete equality, disabling humanity from success. By examining elements of character analysis, tone, plot, setting, and diction, readers can see that these two dystopian stories can be compared and contrasted. “Repent Harlequin…” and “Harrison Bergeron” take place in alternate futures where the government has either taken control of everyone’s schedules or removed things that would make them unequal. Both stories are led by an antagonist and by someone who rebelled against them, but eventually, the rebellion fails and as far as we know the oppression goes on. The stories, even though they are written at different times, are written in very similar tone; both are written in a depressing tone. Most of the stories contain repetition of sad events like where Harlan Ellison uses “And it goes …show more content…
The Non-linear written story makes it seem out of the normal and interesting, but can be confusing and could cause the reader to become disinterested to read. Despite this, Ellison used this format to hook the reader. Vonnegut may use the normal style, but the story is still interesting. Both have different reasons to become dystopian cities, Ellison’s explanation is basically where time becomes valuable, too valuable to waste on others and no one is late, and every day seems to be the same, one after another. Vonnegut explains that being different is illegal, where devices are forced to be used to limit focus and strength to prevent you from getting the advantage on someone, making everyone equal, but is it worth