Comparing 2BR02B And The Lottery

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Dystopian stories draw readers in because of their unusual plots and compelling storylines. The stories keep readers at the edge of their chair and leave them questioning what just happened. Dystopian stories often leave readers wondering, “Did that really just happen?” or “How did the author ever think of something like this?”. This is what compels people to read “2BR02B” and “The Lottery”. The eerie omnipresent feeling of “The Lottery” as town people draw cards to see who is going to get stoned. “2BR02B” leaves the readers with bewilderment and the question: “could this ever happen in the real world?”. Kurt Vonnegut's “2BR02B” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” both are thrilling stories with themes of public execution and dystopia that …show more content…

Shirley Jackson explains the setting, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson). This sets a pleasant theme for the beginning of the story. Villagers converse and gather at the town square like it is part of their daily routine. Children gathered stones as if they were playing a game. Mr. Summers runs the drawing of the lottery. Tessie is the unlucky person, she draw the piece of paper with a black dot on it. The children and other adults pick up the stones and continued to stone Tessie. This story misleads readers into thinking the townspeople are gathered to draw for a lottery receiving money or some reward. Instead, the winner is stoned to death. Why did this just happen? As a reader you never figure out why. Readers could infer different situations. Is it a public offering to some deity or person? Old man Werner explains the significance of the lottery, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon. First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery” (Jackson). Old Man Werner gives light to the meaning of the lottery, he believes that the lottery helps the growth of crops. The lottery seems to be a tradition, and done annually in June. This act of public execution shows us …show more content…

They both have themes of public execution. People either get stoned to death or volunteer to die in gas chambers. This theme plays a critical role in both stories. This theme creates questions like, Why did they volunteer to die? Or Why are they stoning Tessie? Both stories incorporate people following tradition and blindly doing it. They don't think about it rather they do it and move on. For example, in “The Lottery” people show up at the town square and complete the lottery then return back to work. It is as almost like a daily routine. For 2BR02B, people blindly call family members to volunteer to die. It is something that the society has to do and they don't see the true value of killing many people. Another theme is mystery. The same question about why certain events happened occurs in each story. Why does the city carry out the Lottery? Or Why do people volunteer to die? There is a reoccurring theme of family in each story. In “The Lottery”, people carry out the lottery process with family and they even throw rocks at their own family members . In “2BR02B”, people ask family members to die for there own babies. The theme of family effects the outcome of both

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