...The story, written by Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron, has a more satirical effect than the director’s interpretation of Harrison Bergeron. Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity. The author Kurt Vonnegut used the elements of satire such as, exaggeration, irony, and symbolism, and those elements were better conveyed in the story than the film. The story was more satirical than the director’s interpretation in exaggeration.When Harrison removed his handicaps it was very exaggerated.This was after Harrison took off his handicaps,“But Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like batons”(Vonnegut 168-169), It’s highly unlikely that Harrison could do that.This was when Harrison was dancing, “Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.”(Vonnegut 178-179),that is also very unlikely to happen.In the director’s interpretation, there weren’t many things that were over exaggerated, like Harrison Bergeron didn’t abandon the laws of gravity and motion in the director’s interpretation....
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...Science Fiction Magazine, Collier’s Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times, Esquire, Venture, and Cosmopolitan. The title story appeared in Playboy magazine the same year the collection was released. Eleven of the stories were reprinted from Vonnegut’s 1961 short story collection Canary in a Cat House (Vonnegut). This paper will focus on four futuristic science fiction stories from the collection. These stories, “Welcome to the Monkey House”, “Harrison Bergeron”, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, and “Unready to Wear” all share a dystopian science fiction theme. Science and technology are supposed to make the world a better place, but instead, Vonnegut concludes they only create a new set of problems (Farrell, “Science and Technology in the Works of Kurt Vonnegut”). Television is often a target of satire in much of his fiction from the 1950’s. He describes it as desensitizing and numbing while deceiving the masses (Werlock). Vonnegut uses satire and pessimism throughout these dystopian stories. Satire is a special form of literature that seeks to uncover ridiculous ideas and customs in a society (Mowery). Each story portrays a totalitarian government that proposes an irrational solution to genuine problems. Vonnegut uses dystopian fiction and his aversion to science, technology, and television to expose what he feels are foolish ideas and weaknesses in our society. This paper will analyze each story, contrasting how each...
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...Harrison Bergeron is a short story written about a teen boy named Harrison living in a dystopian society who uses his exceptionality to fight against the government. Later on, a film adaption was made. Both are completely different in mood and tone. Harrison Bergeron is a light-hearted satire unlike its movie adaptation, 2081. In the short story, Harrison had a clown-like and laughable appearance because he was considered above average in his looks. “...To set off his good looks, H-G men required that he wear a red ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle tooth random,”(45) imagining someone to appear as this in real life is humorous and would usually make someone laugh. “He flung away his rubber nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder,”(57). He also ripped away the scrap metal on his body as if it were as “wet tissue paper,”(54) unlike in the movie where he struggled a bit to add emphasis. 2081 is...
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...All Men are Created Equally Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., author of "Harrison Bergeron" perhaps takes America's First Amendment that all men are created equally a little to seriously. His futuristic short story gives the reader a glimpse of what a truly equal society would be like. In Vonnegut's society various constraints are used to handicap and equalize the citizens; earphones that emit piercing noises to distract the thoughts of the gifted, heavy weights to weaken the strong, and hideous masks to hide ones natural beauty. Vonnegut's dystopian world exposes the dangers and disadvantages of a society with complete equality of all citizens portrayed by imagery, satire and a not so happy ending. In the beginning of the story the reader is given a glimpse of a truly equal society. Vonnegut emphasis his view of extreme equality and the role the government plays in enforcing it. The year was...
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...A Reflection on Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Introduction Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story, Harrison Bergeron, is about control. The setting is based in future America, where everyone is forced to be equal. Harrison, the main character, breaks the law as the country watches on TV. The story begins by mentioning Amendments 211 through 213, making the reader aware of limitations that could potentially be placed on their freedom. In this story of perception, government agents are the deciding factor of a person’s fate and they ensure that laws are enforced. Beautiful people must wear hideous masks to make them equal to the ugly, the brilliant wear ear devices that alter their thought process and make recollection near impossible and the strong wear weighted bags to make them equal to those who are weak (Vonnegut, 1961). Forced equality is questioned by the handicapped and the outcome is a controlled society. Harrison is used to represent the people who will protest against such laws and encourage others to support his cause. The central idea is that the government could never make a perfect world by enforcing total equality but they can place limitations on people. Discussion Vonnegut uses a satirical and humorous tone while presenting a serious topic to critique America in the 1960’s, both politically and socially. The political system in the story is egalitarianism; this is the belief that all people should be treated equally in every...
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...“Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1922, and ten years later The Great Depression began. In this time, Vonnegut had to adapt to living in impoverished conditions because of his father’s lack of financial means. The Great Depression was a crucial period in his childhood development; Vonnegut’s literary pieces are a reflection of what he observed the world to be through his own life experiences. The majority of his works are science fiction used to “[help] lend form to the presentation of this world view without imposing a falsifying causality upon it (Reed),” as Peter Reed mentioned in an autobiography about Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut believed that science fiction offers a perception into an everyday society, rather than escaping it. The extraordinary events he experienced throughout his life served as motivation and influenced him to write stories about the world; as a result, Vonnegut showed an immense appreciation about life in his literary pieces. Kurt Vonnegut continued to pursue his goal of demonstrating to the world how wonderful life is through creations in the graphic arts. In 1950, Vonnegut published his first short story, “Report on the Barnhouse Effect” followed by “The Sirens of Titan” (1959), “Cat’s Cradle” (1963), “Slaughterhouse-Five” (1969), and “Breakfast of Champions” (1973). The society in which Kurt Vonnegut was a part of highly valued the ideal of equality; the short story “Harrison Bergeron” was written to foreshadow the...
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...The most noteworthy section of Harrison Bergeron is the first paragraph because the author utilizes his language to develop a theme and cleverly deliver a satire on Communism. To begin with, the noted section has the strongest writing because the writer includes extreme words to establish a recurring idea. In the first paragraph, where the readers second-handedly explore this “utopian” society for the first time, the first impressions that they get of the place are strict control and absolute sameness . Such impressions are conveyed through extreme words like “every” and “nobody”, stressing how everyone is “equal” in the community, in so creating an important theme that deals with “equality”. Therefore, the writing here is outstanding because...
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...Professor Nancy Fraser English EAC150 17/10/2012 MLA Documentation Essay The author Roslyn Foy explains the deeper emotions that resides in Armand the protagonist of the story Desiree’s baby by Kate Chopin. Armand’s cruel actions towards the people around him do not only suggest racism in the nineteenth century; he is man that must comply and live up to his great reputation. Foy brings up the subject of his mother, suggesting that even though she died when Armand was only eight years old, he must have remember her physical appearance but somehow he has suppressed that fact. This questions that whether Armand’s cruel actions came from a social point of view or does it deprive from his suppression of his mother and his past. This eventually led him to abandon his wife and son, the author suggest that his hatred towards them is the hatred towards himself and his origins. Armand is a character that is confused and angry with his past and finally realizes at the end that he is the very thing that he hates the most. In this critical essay, the author Leon Lewis illustrates an overview of Langston Hughes overall work and what he represents as a literary writer. Hughes is known as the “Laureate of Black America”, he has the desire to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America. His work usually consists of rhymes and poems, and the language of the black community. Even though some of his work is appeal more towards young adult readers, his work is...
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...Catherine Powers Professor Mary Fahey English 1B 18 September 2013 Harrison Bergeron: Total Equality is Not Equal to Perfection Harrison Bergeron, a story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is set in year 2081 when multiples constitutional amendments have been made to ensure that every single U.S. citizen is entirely equal under the law: nobody is more attractive, more intelligent, or stronger in physical capabilities than anybody else. The theme made clear in this satire is that total equality is not an ideal worth striving for, but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both execution and outcome. The U.S. government in this story moves to ensure that no one citizen is in any way superior to another. One aspect of this is in physical aspects: nobody is allowed to be exceptionally attractive, nor are they allowed to be stronger or quicker. Masks are worn over excessively good-looking faces, and bags stuffed with lead balls are worn around the necks of the exceptionally strong so as to slow them down and weaken them. When a news bulletin comes on the television and a ballerina is made to deliver the news, Vonnegut tells us that this ballerina had to have been the best out of all the dancers because “her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred-pound men” (233). Ballerinas have always been generally petite women in such that they are skinny and perhaps not as tall as other girls or women. Two-hundred-pound men would crush a ballerina with their strength. In the futuristic...
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...Harrison Bergeron, a story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is set in year 2081 when multiples constitutional amendments have been made to ensure that every single U.S. citizen is entirely equal under the law: nobody is more attractive, more intelligent, or stronger in physical capabilities than anybody else. The theme made clear in this satire is that total equality is not an ideal worth striving for, but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both execution and outcome. The U.S. government in this story moves to ensure that no one citizen is in any way superior to another. One aspect of this is in physical aspects: nobody is allowed to be exceptionally attractive, nor are they allowed to be stronger or quicker. Masks are worn over excessively good-looking faces, and bags stuffed with lead balls are worn around the necks of the exceptionally strong so as to slow them down and weaken them. When a news bulletin comes on the television and a ballerina is made to deliver the news, Vonnegut tells us that this ballerina had to have been the best out of all the dancers because “her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred-pound men” (233). Ballerinas have always been generally petite women in such that they are skinny and perhaps not as tall as other girls or women. Two-hundred-pound men would crush a ballerina with their strength. In the futuristic society Vonnegut has brought us to, it is necessary to give the same amount of physical handicap to a two-hundred-pound man...
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...”Welcome to the monkey house” by Kurt Vonnegut The story takes place in the not-so-distant future in an overpopulated world, with an over dominating government. There are way to few jobs and people are forced to take a special medicine, which make them feel numb from the waist down and not feel attracted to sex nor the other gender. The main character is a criminal mastermind named Billy the Poet, whose quest is to deflower the hostesses. The hostesses are women who help the citizens with committing suicide. The government are advertising suicide because of the world’s overpopulation. Billy the Poet kidnaps one of the hostesses named Nancy McLuhan, and deflowers her without abusing her in any way. At last Billy lets her go with a changed mind and a bottle of regular birth control pills. “Welcome to the monkey house” are from a novel collection by Kurt Vonnegut. The main character is, Billy the Poet. He is described as very dangerous and very wanted by the government, but he’s a good person who only wants the best for other people. Billy the Poet does not take his medication given by the government and he wants to let women off the medication too. Every women whose seen Billy and gotten deflowered by him, lies to the government to protect Billy. He is a rebel who fights against the government and fights for freedom of mankind. The hostesses, taken as prisoner by Billy, name is Nancy McLuhan and works at the Ethical Suicide Service. She’s a strong and wilful woman....
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...Kurt Vonnegut Vonnegut’s readers will often find themselves misled or confused. His style of writing is organized randomness from his cynical point of view. In A Man Without A Country, Vonnegut shows the ugly truth about our government and his views on how it doesn’t work. Vonnegut’s perspective of family is also exceptionally candid. He is able to tie family life and values into politics. As a reader it is very hard to make out Vonnegut’s meaning because of his enormous amount of satire. Vonnegut’s strong beliefs in government and politics leave you wondering his true feelings about our government. In Vonnegut’s words, “George Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka Christians, and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or PPs, the medical term for smart, personable people who have no consciences.” When Vonnegut says this he’s trying to show just how pathetic our government truly is. He sees the government as being such a big joke that it would make a fascinating reality television show. Anyone who watches reality Television shows can see just how impractical they are and how dumb people can become. He also explains within his words that average people who were C-students are running the government. It’s obvious that he feels as if the people given power and supremacy should not be elected to make the decisions for what is right and what is wrong within our country...
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...The New Astrology by SUZANNE WHITE Copyright © 1986 Suzanne White. All rights reserved. 2 Dedication book is dedicated to my mother, Elva Louise McMullen Hoskins, who is gone from this world, but who would have been happy to share this page with my courageous kids, April Daisy White and Autumn Lee White; my brothers, George, Peter and John Hoskins; my niece Pamela Potenza; and my loyal friends Kitti Weissberger, Val Paul Pierotti, Stan Albro, Nathaniel Webster, Jean Valère Pignal, Roselyne Viéllard, Michael Armani, Joseph Stoddart, Couquite Hoffenberg, Jean Louis Besson, Mary Lee Castellani, Paula Alba, Marguerite and Paulette Ratier, Ted and Joan Zimmermann, Scott Weiss, Miekle Blossom, Ina Dellera, Gloria Jones, Marina Vann, Richard and Shiela Lukins, Tony Lees-Johnson, Jane Russell, Jerry and Barbara Littlefield, Michele and Mark Princi, Molly Friedrich, Consuelo and Dick Baehr, Linda Grey, Clarissa and Ed Watson, Francine and John Pascal, Johnny Romero, Lawrence Grant, Irma Kurtz, Gene Dye, Phyllis and Dan Elstein, Richard Klein, Irma Pride Home, Sally Helgesen, Sylvie de la Rochefoucauld, Ann Kennerly, David Barclay, John Laupheimer, Yvon Lebihan, Bernard Aubin, Dédé Laqua, Wolfgang Paul, Maria José Desa, Juliette Boisriveaud, Anne Lavaur, and all the others who so dauntlessly stuck by me when I was at my baldest and most afraid. Thanks, of course, to my loving doctors: James Gaston, Richard Cooper, Yves Decroix, Jean-Claude Durand, Michel Soussaline and...
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