Comparing 2BR02B And The Lottery

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

lead to mystery, question, blindness, and stress within family.
The misleading beginning of “The Lottery” fools readers into thinking the story is about something other than a lottery for death.

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

the significance of loyalty to tradition and family. These people follow the tradition of the lottery and do not question it. This leads to family, when someone draws a black dot, their family proceeds to stone him or her along with other townspeople. This act of public execution and dystopia gives “The Lottery” a sense of wonder. It leaves readers questioning a possible explanation for the shocking events. An example of this mystery is the mail author Shirley Jackson receives about the story. Jackson explains the letters, “Curiously, there are three main themes which dominate the letters of that first summer--three themes which might be identifies as bewilderment, speculation, and plain old-fashioned abuse” (Jackson). This quote explains the mystery readers experience after reading the story. Readers will be left inferring the reason of the mayhem in “The Lottery”.
“2BR02B” does not leave readers in mystery rather than leaving readers in question about the events that play out. This dystopian story starts out with the statement, “Everything was perfectly swell” (Vonnegut). This gives us a positive feeling about the theme. A man named Edward K. Wheling, Jr is waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets. This may seem something to be ecstatic over, instead Edward seem gloomy. Edward talks to a painter whom is two hundred years old. The painter is painting a mural as a memorial for a person that volunteered to die. This is very perplexing, How is someone two hundred years old? Why did someone volunteer to die? One explanation could be the Federal Bureau of Termination. Since the cure for aging has been found, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was set up so that people can call them to die. If one calls 2BR02B they can volunteer to die in a gas chamber, due to a rise in population. A woman appears when Edward is waiting. This woman works for the Federal Bureau of Termination. She is surprised that she gets her face painted next to the famed doctor Hitz on the mural. Next Dr. HItz appears and reveals that the triplets were born. The only problem was that the law requires someone to die for every baby born. Edward describes his view against population control in this quote, “All I have to do is pick out which one of the triplets is going to live, then deliver my maternal grandfather to the Happy Hooligan, and come back here with a receipt” (Vonnegut). The Happy Hooligan is a nickname for the gas chambers. This quote show that Edward is very unhappy about this execution of people so others could live. Edward is so distraught about the situation that he pulls out a revolver and shoots Dr. Hitz and the woman from The Federal Bureau of Termination. Finally he shoots himself making room for all three triplets in the population. The painter is surprised by this scene and the next day he sets an appointment at the gas chambers. This dystopian story shows us the meaning of life to the people of this story. Life is merely an object that can be thrown away with one call. Why are people so blind about what is actually happening? Many people are voluntarily dying so that the rest of the population can live with peace and resources. It is a dark idea to think about.
Both “The Lottery” 2BR02B” share similar themes.

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

stories.
Kurt Vonnegut's “2BR02B” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” both share themes of dystopia and mystery. Both stories create a sense of mystery and gloom. These stories create questions, impact families, and contain public execution. In “The Lottery”, without the sense of mystery, readers would not be intrigued. “The Lottery” shows how blind people can be when they conform to social ways. In “2BR02B”, volunteer death forms an interesting twist in the storyline. It shows how blind people are about the idea of thousands of people volunteering to die everyday. Ultimately family impacts the ending with everyone dying due to the birth of triplets. Both stories show are great examples of how dystopian stories create a sense of blindness and stress within a family.