Compare and Contrast Essay A lot of books and movies are plotted around dystopian settings; The Lorax and Harrison Bergeron are prime examples of dystopic states and thus they will be used in this essay. It is clearly visible to see that they are dystopian societies but they have different dystopian characteristics that define how their societies function. They do this in similar and in different ways which are evident. Also there are differences between the two protagonists in the stories. The Lorax is an animated movie which features a town called “Thneedville” which is completely taken over by plastic and everyone is obsessed with technology. Within the city, there is nothing natural; the people even buy their own air. The town is caged in by a gigantic wall so they can’t see the destruction beyond. They are ruled by a man named O’Hare who is greedy and makes all the people blind and not realize the advantages of having a natural world. One boy named Ted wants to bring a tree into town and give is to a girl named Audrey who he is desperately in love with. Ted goes on a journey to find a tree which leads him to the Once-ler who tells him the story of how the trees disappeared. Ted goes to the Once-ler a few times to hear the entire story and at the end he gives Ted the last seed to help restore the world of trees. Harrison Bergeron is about a futuristic society that ensures equality between everyone. The people are constantly watched and all of the people are under constant watch and are encumbered to the point where they can’t think for themselves. The protagonist is a boy named Harrison Bergeron, hence the title. He was taken away from his parents by the Handicapper General. The Handicapper General controls all and makes it so everyone is completely equal by encumbering people’s abilities. Harrison defies his handicaps and claims to be emperor and is seen as a super human and takes a ballerina who also takes off her handicaps and becomes his empress briefly. While this is going on people start removing their handicaps, but before long the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, enters into the studio and kills both Harrison and his newly selected empress. Everyone is then instructed to put their handicaps back on and life continues on as it did at the beginning. Both The Lorax and Harrison Bergeron are dystopic societies. In both stories there are a lot of things that are similar. In both stories they are monitored by the government. For instance, in The Lorax there are cameras everywhere throughout Thneedville and everyone is being watched. When Ted left to go see the Once-ler, O’Hare knew because he saw him leave the city through his cameras that are placed everywhere. In Harrison Bergeron all of the people’s thoughts are monitored by the government so they don’t use their brains more than anyone else. They are limited to what they can think because if they think too much a pulse or sound is sent into their head from the handicaps to distort their thoughts. This falls under the Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance characteristic of a dystopian society. Also, both stories are illusions of a perfect utopia. For example, in The Lorax, they believe that having fake trees and having all unnatural things in their town is perfect because it’s what they have been exposed to. In Harrison Bergeron they