All Summer In A Day, Ponies, And Harrison Bergeron

Common Themes in All Summer in a Day, Ponies, and Harrison Bergeron Most people, regardless of whether they admit it or not, will do crazy things when they are jealous. It is normal human behavior to be jealous, but some take it too far. An example of this is the characters in Ray Bradbury’s All Summer in a Day, where Margot’s classmates lock her in a closet because they are envious, Barbara in Kij Johnson’s Ponies, who cuts off her pony Sunny’s wings and horn because she is envious of TheOtherGirls who have friends, and society in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Harrison Bergeron, which uses extreme measures to prevent jealousy. Margot and her classmates live on Venus. The Sun only comes out once every seven years, but the children are nine. Margot moved to Venus when she was four. The other children envy her because she remembers the sun, unlike them. On the day the Sun comes out, the other children lock Margot in a closet. “They could not meet each other’s glances. . .they unlocked the door, even more slowly.” They realized they were out of line and took their jealousy too far.

“All ponies go to a cutting out party, and they give up [their wings, horn, or voice] two of the three, because that’s what has to happen if a girl is going to fit in with TheOtherGirls.” Even Sunny says, “I can’t wait to have friends!” Barbara discovered she had to take away her voice as well. “‘I won’t!’ Barbara tells them all, but even as she cries until her face is caked with snot and tears, she knows she will. . .Sunny stands up beside her on trembling legs.” Barbara knows she should not mutilate Sunny, but she would do it anyway due to jealousy of