The short story by Shirley Jackson The Lottery and the short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron are both dystopian texts. They demonstrate a lifestyle that violates our common sense or legitimacy, but are deemed acceptable and ordinary to the characters. A dystopian world is often touted as a utopia and has a futuristic totalitarian or authoritarian government that exercises complete control over the public, resulting in a loss of individuality and freedom. Even though both texts have completely different concepts, the reader can still recognize the depraved and immoral lives that the characters believe are essential to their way of life. The societies depicted in both texts are illusions of utopian worlds, even though the reader sees the characters' lifestyles as revolting, dehumanized, and disgusting. The authors also warn readers of the extreme dangers associated with blindly accepting one's lifestyle just because of tradition and societal acceptance. First, the societies of The Lottery and Harrison Bergeron are illusions of perfect utopian worlds; authors establish settings that are perceived as flawless by the reader. In Harrison Bergeron Vonnegut sets the scene by presenting the reader with a perfect world, where everyone is equal, a world without rivalry, a world of complete harmony and peace. This creates the impression of a perfect utopian world in which "no one [is] smarter", "no one is more beautiful", and "no one is stronger... than anyone else". Vonnegut's use of repetition emphasizes the idea of ​​a utopian environment which causes competing ideas to become subordinate; this encourages the reader to relax about the idea of ​​equality. By presenting the scene as a utopia, Vonnegut increases the impact on the…half of the card…lottery', indicates blind acceptance and a lack of understanding of the need to change to benefit and improve society. Through the use of characterization the authors are able to incorporate the idea that to move forward in society a change must be undertaken. Vonnegut and Jackson, through the use of well-written short stories, were able to address problematic issues in today's societies. Through the use of Harrison Bergeron Kurt Vonnegut was able to address the growing issue of equality, this is a very important issue as many people in modern societies find the idea of ​​equality incredible. Shirley Jackson through The Lottery addressed the troubling issue of societies blindly following religions and traditions due to superstitions and reluctance to change. These dystopian texts demonstrate the inevitable outcome that these problems will ultimately cause.