Similarities Between The Lottery And Harrison Bergeron

The Blind Followers
What would your life be like in a society where you were compelled to follow involuntary beliefs and traditions and had no say in it? “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson focuses on a village that is blinded by an old practice that has been going on for generations; the practice of choosing a “winner” for the “lottery.” This lottery takes place among all the villagers and whoever receives the “black dot” is the winner who will be stoned to death. In comparison, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut focuses on a society who wants to reach unity by being equal, which leads them to inhumane treatments to reach that unity. These treatments include being weighed down if you are strong or wear a hideous mask if you are attractive,

In the story, it is stated, “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; [...] the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner” (Jackson 250-251). This detail specifically entails how important this lottery is for the villagers to unite, leading them to a shocking custom of choosing who gets to be stoned to death. The villagers are aware of what atrocity they are going through, yet no one ever questions their customs because traditions are to be continued through beliefs and customs to show oneness, even if it leads to cruel-ness. The interesting part of believing in such a tradition is that the villagers never chose to believe in it, but were forced. This is because the villagers are not aware of the history of the annual lottery, but just that it has been around for a long time, and to follow such beliefs is the right thing to do rather than

The society's aim is to be equal, disregarding the wholly truth of the misconceptions of what equality really is. In the story, it is stated, “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” (Vonnegut 216). Equality plays a huge role in this society, making all individuals equal from their looks to even intelligence level. However, equality does not always try to make unequal things equal. For instance, towards the end of the story, a utopian society gets hurt when a single person stands for its rights. Harrison Bergeron, after escaping jail, breaks out of his servitude and shows rebelliousness to be free from all his weights and to stand up for his rights. "I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison. “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once” (Vonnegut 219)! In this moment, Harrison frees himself from his oppression. He transforms into something this society would never have seen; a ruler. Harrison finally realizes that the equality the government was giving the society, was not equality but injustice. This is because the individuals in this society are “handicapped,” if they are above normal, so the below averaged people do not feel unacceptable. In