Consider both “The Lottery” and “Harrison Bergeron”. Why does the town have a lottery in “The Lottery”? Why are there handicaps
in “Harrison Bergeron”? Why do people go along with these bizarre practices in the two texts? What do people value in each society and why? Use RACE in your response!
‘The Lottery’ and ‘Harrison Bergeron’, two short stories depicting dystopian ways of life were written in the mid-twentieth century just after the second world war and in the midst of the fight for equality in western civilization. These stories display commonalities and differences in areas such as their authoritarian atmosphere, perceptions of equality, and based on their general arch and themes. To begin, the two stories parallel in the government ruling and corresponding atmosphere. Both stories have an authoritarian government in place with a strong set of rules regulated by methods of control and propaganda. Within ‘The Lottery’ for example, the governing body established an annual randomized public execution under the guise of it being a sacrifice for the crops.
