Fairness and equality are desirable elements of any society. But can they be taken too far? "Harrison Bergeron" and "The Lottery" show us how they can.
The short stories "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, and "Harrison Bergeron," by Kurt Vonnegut, present societies where extreme efforts are made to preserve a balance. In "Harrison Bergeron," everyone is forced to maintain the same level of skills and abilities. The town depicted in "The Lottery," meanwhile, employs what it sees as the fairest way to continue an ancient tradition.
1. Equal Opportunity, No Matter What
The concept of equality appears in both stories not as an achievement, but as a potentially destructive element. An important aspect in these tales is the extreme to which the authorities (the government in "Harrison Bergeron," and the townspeople themselves in "The Lottery") will go to enforce their ideologies and traditions.
In the world inhabited by the Bergeron family, new amendments to the constitution and the constant vigilance of the Handicapper General have successfully eliminated physical and intellectual discrepancies among citizens. The agile are weighed down with heavy sacks; the intelligent are ceaselessly tormented by transmitters that routinely break their concentration; and the beautiful are made to wear hideous masks. Presenters have speech defects, and ballerinas stumble gracelessly across the stage. Nobody is better than anyone else, and normalcy is imposed to eliminate competition and thus avoid feelings of inferiority.
"The Lottery" presents a similar scenario. Every year, the people in various unnamed towns enact a ritual that culminates in the stoning of one of their citizens. How are the victims chosen? Fairly, of course, through a lottery where every family has their "chance" to have one of their members picked, although children under sixteen are exempt. Minor details in the way the lottery is conducted have changed throughout the years, but not the grisly rite itself. When one character mentions that other towns have given it up, or are thinking about it, his fellow citizens react as if the world were coming to an end. At the same time, we're never told why the lottery is held; the assertion that "there's always been a lottery" must suffice.
2. No Way Out
The general acceptance of the status quo in both stories makes their outcomes especially shocking and tragic. In each case, an individual tries to make a stand against their circumstances, but inevitably fails to sway or overcome the powers that be.
The eponymous protagonist of "Harrison Bergeron" is an adolescent who has developed to an incredible extent. So lacking are his natural handicaps that he wears three hundred pounds' worth of artificial ones: weights, masks, headphones... all have become increasingly heavier through the years, and he has outgrown every single one. When he is pursued by the police for attempting to overthrow the government, he makes a desperate attempt to communicate the beauty inherent in some forms of inequality. In the television studio, he strips off his handicaps and dances in the air with the most talented of the ballerinas to the tune played by the also liberated musicians. For a few minutes, they are the Emperor and Empress, entrancing viewers with their unique skills and natural beauty. However, the magic disappears when they're shot down by the Handicapper General. Harrison's parents, watching it all on their television, will soon forget what has happened once they're distracted back into their "normal" states.
Near the end of "The Lottery," meanwhile, Tessie Hutchinson has submitted the strip of paper with her name on it to the officials. By sheer chance, she is chosen as the year's "participant," and her family and neighbors prepare to throw the stones that will kill her. Until that moment, Tessie had been relaxed and lighthearted about the proceedings, as frighteningly nonchalant as everyone else. Once her paper is drawn, however, she finds herself alone in her predicament, as her outraged screams against the unfairness of the lottery are ignored. Her small son, Davy, is himself holding a handful of pebbles, in a shocking display of how all family and community ties are cut once the lottery's victim has been sentenced. If Tessie's own family won't spare her life, who else will?
In "The Lottery" and "Harrison Bergeron," the reader is asked to consider the possibility that imposed ideals of absolute equality or fairness can have destructive consequences when taken to extreme lengths. The dystopian societies in these stories cause great suffering in their efforts to maintain ancient traditions and institute regimes of equality and fairness.
