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Harrison Bergeron & the Ones Who Walk Away

Ursula’s those who walk away from Omelas is contrasted and compared with the lottery by Shirley Jackson in that these two texts talk of almost a similar thing with different intensities. The two can also be said to be contradictory or different when viewed from another viewpoint whereby in walking away from Omelas there is pain and sadness based on the judgments of what is sweet from a common perspective while in the lottery there is real joy even though clouded with a kind of sadness. The two texts are based on different timelines and this also serves to give us a clearer understanding of the differences in the manner in which they can be compared. One of the major themes in the two texts is suffering and this is seen through the different happenings indicated in the two stories. Therefore herein this paper compares and contrasts the different aspects of these two stories in light of the dystopian perspective of human sacrifice.

Human sacrifice has always existed before and still exists today in many parts of the world. Before it was done for religious reasons as well as other reasons like a person disobeying the societal norms thus killed after doing a certain thing. However with all these sufferings in the real world, it is also important to focus a little bit on the dystopian concept of suffering in the world which is imagined or does not exist in the real sense. This is majorly found in literature and therefore these two texts serve us to bring us ideas on what dystopian means and how it is applied in both of the stories.

In the first story which is about a person walking away from Omelas, we see the reason as to why people way away at the end of the story. Even though the story begins well with the author explaining how good life is at the Omelas it does not turn out to be good at the end of the day when these individuals see what makes their life good and successful (Guin, 2). Even though their happiness is described a one that is crisscrossed with difficulty and pain it is still considered to be happiness. This is because happiness is happiness and what makes a certain society or community happy may not make another one happy. Therefore in this community happiness is described as one which is not based on their leadership as the author states that they do not have a king neither do they have a structured leadership. Their happiness is seen to come from their free way of living whereby they do not have many rules and they just live like free people. However, this does not excite some people and the human consciousness of some sting when they see the suffering child who makes them happy (Guin, 3).

In the second story which is about the future and still a dystopian view of the world, there is a kind of unity and peace that is seen to exist in the world. Everyone is seen as equal not only before God but also before the law and this is what can be termed as being equal to the lowest level. Those who refuse to be equal to others were made to be equal to them through different measures put into place. These measures however were not the best and they were not good towards the human person as they restrained him and her. One of these measures was the use of hearing handicaps (Vonnegut, 4). In the same desire to be equal, the leaders were also very much involved in finding and making sure that a person like Harrison Bergeron who is considered a genius is caught and made equal like the others (Vonnegut, 3).

These two stories therefore can be compared in the manner of the suffering of their major characters. For example in those who walk away from Omelas we see a young naked child and suffering being exposed to the most extreme conditions and problems. He is made to sit in a corner of the room and his face is hidden. Even though he pleads that his life to be spared he is not spared and he is left there to suffer. On the other hand, the Harrison Bergeron we see how Harrison is never allowed to be among people and when he escapes is looked for with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. This is because he is detained to some extent is viewed to bring peace and happiness among people. Therefore he is detained and so many inhibitors are used on his body (Vonnegut, 3).

Even though there is seen to be some kind of joy and peace among the people it does not fully hold that it is the real one. This is because with all these sufferings some people still have a human touch and they feel that it is the wrong thing. This can be attributed to the fact that people walk away from Omelas after seeing eh suffering and misery of the child who is thought to bring them peace and joy. They walk away never to come back again because trying to imagine if such kind of misery is what brings them peace and joy is not easy and not possible to fully understand. The same thing happens in Harrison Bergeron whereby individuals remove their masks and their mental handicaps.

In conclusion, therefore, these two dystopian texts talk of a similar concept which is suffering disguised to bring happiness and joy but in a real sense among the people there still exists a human touch and which tells them that something is not right. Even with the sacrifice of some people like Harrison Bergeron and the child who is left to suffer the society does not become any better, rather it becomes more unpleasant.

Works cited

Le Guin, Ursula K. “The ones who walk away from Omelas.” (1975).

Vonnegut, Kurt. Harrison Bergerson. na, 1961.