In the stories "Harrison Bergeron- and "Désirée's Baby- prejudice is shown towards people that are different than the ideal person. Even though the stories are told in very different settings the theme is very much the same. The stories us pathos and logos to show that humans have a natural tendencies to be afraid of what they think is different or something that they don't know much about. We put things that we don't know about into categories and make judgments on the people in those categories instead of learning about the individual. May it be by race, intellect or ability, we classify and separate the people that are different from those who are thought as "normal-. .
In "Harrison Bergeron- the people in the future are made "equal- by debilitating the ones that have higher than average abilities, looks or thoughts. They become an average community who look down on the idea competing against each other may it be intellectually, physically, or by ability. Harrison is a teenager that is beyond average and even though the government tries to make him equal with the rest of the community, he can't be held down. He fights against the system and removes his restraints but not too long after he is free from his burdens he is shot by the Handicapper General. This is all seen by his parents but they cant understand what is happening because they a restrained from higher thinking.
In "Désirée's Baby- race is the main issue. It is in a time when racism is the norm and people are classified by the color of their skin and not the quality of their character. When the two white parents realize that their baby isn't all white, the mother is blamed with "contaminating- the family name and since she isn't sure of her ancestry she cant fight the accusations. She asks her husband if he wants her to leave and its obvious that he doesn't want her to be in his family anymore because of the suspicion that she's not all white, so she leaves along with her baby.