Harrison Bergeron Symbolism Essay

Words: 486
Pages: 2

Symbolism is everywhere, and you might not even know it. Now, looking for the symbolism is the hard part for some people, but not always for others because of how much symbolism is in the literature in your homes and at school. There are definitely a ton of symbolism in the short stories Harrison Bergeron written by Kurt Vonnegut, The Pedestrian by Ray Bradberry, and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Now, Harrison Bergeron, written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a story about someplace that is claimed to be an utopian society, when it really isn't. There is a boy, obligatorily named Harrison, that is in prison of suspicion to overthrow the government. There is one scene near the end of the where Harrison is stripping from his handicaps, which is symbolic of freedom and being the one that stands out in the crowd. There are possibly more things that the author intended to be symbolism that some people didn’t quite catch, so read it to find out for yourself.

Next, we have The Pedestrian, written by Ray Bradberry. This one is about this street filled with lifeless bodies, but there’s this one man who tries to live and actually goes outside. This one is a pretty difficult story to understand or try to find examples of symbolism
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The story is about a society that holds their traditions close to them and never lets them go. There is a certain part where it explains how the lottery works. Basically the people of the society are randomly chosen and have to draw pieces of paper out of the black box, which is symbolic of not wanting to let go of a tradition even if it’s insane. They draw the paper, and if they draw one with a black dot, they are stoned to death. The black dot on the white piece of paper is symbolic of losing your innocence or not being innocent anymore. So apparently, a piece of paper determines your innocence in that society, which is pretty