Tim Peralta

Literature Of The Americas

Mr.Cook
November 17th, 2014

Have you ever imagined what the future would be like? Shirley Jackson and Kurt
Vonnegut have a pretty good idea. Master authors, like Shirley Jackson and Kurt
Vonnegut, use symbols in their writing in a unique way. Examples of their use of
symbolism can be found in The Lottery, and Harrison Bergeron. Both The Lottery
and Harrison Bergeron use the rhetorical device of symbolism to inform the reader of
how harsh life might be in the future.
The Lottery uses the stones to symbolize the violence going on in the world
right now. Shirley Jackson writes, Mrs.Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to
pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs.Dunbar. Come on, she said. Hurry up
(7). The people picking up the stones symbolizes people today who hurt others. The
Lottery also states, Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now,
and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. It isnt fair,
she said. A stone hit her on the side of her head (7).This event of stoning the woman
symbolizes the hatred, violence, and cruelty going on in the world right now.
Harrison Bergeron uses Harrison to symbolize rebellion from the government.
Kurt Vonnegut writes, Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen, she said in a grackle squawk,
has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the
government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be
regarded as extremely dangerous. This quote about how Harrison escaped from jail

symbolizes rebellion because he does not want to follow the rules. Kurt Vonnegut also
writes, Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore
straps guaranteed to support five thousand pounds. Harrisons scrap-iron handicaps
crashed to the floor. Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that
secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison smashed his
headphones and spectacles against the wall. He flung away his rubber-ball nose,
revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder (12).
Both authors wrote their stories to inform the reader about how harsh life will be
in the future. In the short story, The Lottery Shirley Jackson uses the stones to
symbolize all of the violence going on in the world right now. She is trying to inform the
reader of how cruel humans are and how people can go against each other. This is
shown in The Lottery when Tessie Hutchinson gets stoned by everyone in the village.
In the other story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut is trying to inform the reader
about how life might be in the future. I know that he is trying to inform us of this because
in the short story, he writes, The YEAR WAS 2081, and everyone was finally equal.
This small extra piece of information tells the reader that Kurt Vonnegut is trying to tell
us of how life will be in the future.
Kurt Vonnegut and Shirley Jackson both use symbolism in their writing to inform
the reader about how life is cruel and about how life might be in the future. They both
are trying to inform the reader about how cruel humans can be towards each other.
Both authors are trying to convey a message of rebellion from the government and from
society in general. The authors use of symbols in their writing makes their writing
stronger and more vivid.