...Is equality really possible to achieve? “… All men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,” or so this statement from the Declaration of independence claims to be true. This although, is not correct because it was written to benefit wealthy white men and no one else. This is shown in the short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The author Kurt Vonnegut in a way illustrates how a so-called utopian society is actually dystopic while trying to reach equality for all. With the great use of the Bergeron characters, Vonnegut implies that equality is impossible to achieve if you don’t fight for it. The character of George Bergeron symbolizes all the people who are upset because they have to wear handicaps,...
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...In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, George Bergeron and his wife, Hazel Bergeron, live in a society in 2081 that, thanks to new amendments and the Handicapper General, is, completely and altogether, equal in every single way. Every citizen was made sure to have the same level of beauty, strength, speed, and mental capability through the use of handicaps, such as a mental handicap that emits a loud noise every twenty seconds or a canvas bag padlocked around a person’s neck carrying varying weights of birdshot. George wore strength and mental handicaps, but Hazel had none. However, their son, Harrison Bergeron, handicapped to the maximum, wearing the bags of birdshot as well as a large assortment of scrap metal and headphones...
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...Just about everyone in this world has always wished that things were more equal between people. Imagine if you actually lived in a world that was equal in every aspect. We can see what is like in the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. He opens with a very telling sentence “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal”. (Jr.). In this year 2081 their culture values equality so much that everyone is equal in every way. For instance when Hazel suggests that George remove the forty seven pound handicap he replies “If I tried to get away with it….then other people would get away with it…and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else”. (Jr.) In this world of “Harrison Bergeron”,...
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...Equality and Manipulation: Theme in “Harrison Bergeron” The dystopian story, “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is set in 2081 America, where three amendments to the Constitution make everyone equal in every way. No one is smarter, stronger, or better looking than anyone else. Some people are perfectly average and don’t need handicaps, like Hazel. On the other hand, her husband, George, has to wear a mental and physical handicap. Everyone is required, by law, to be equal. However, their son, Harrison, is so far from average and so powerful, that they have to lock him up in prison. Harrison wants to overthrow the government. He realized that this “equality” was taking away everyone’s individuality and it wasn’t really equality anymore. A lesson that shines through this story is that equality can only go so far...
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...Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” is based on equality. The story was written in 1961 but was based in the year of 2081. Equality is forced through amendments in the constitution, which states no one can be smarter than anyone else, no one can be stronger than anyone else, and no one can be better looking than anyone else. The story begins in the living room of the Bergeron’s, Hazel and George. George possesses an intelligence higher than the average person, so he is forced to have a handicap in his ear that scatters his thoughts every twenty seconds. George is also very strong, so he is forced to wear a forty-seven-pound bag of bird shot that consist of lead balls. His wife, Hazel, has an average intelligence in their society; however, in our generation she would be considered mentally slow. Diana Moon Glampers, also known as the United States Handicapper General, has placed their son Harrison Bergeron in jail for refusing to follow the equality laws. Harrison is a very strong, intellectual man and doesn’t believe in total equality. He escapes from prison, breaks into a ballet concert and manages to get on live television. Harrison rips off his restraints...
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...The Never Ending War Between Equality and Equity “Equality is giving everyone a shoe, whereas equity is giving everyone a shoe that fits.” - Unknown We fight for equality thinking it will benefit us, but it will only bring chaos due to the differences in others. We often believe equality as being the ideal society compared to an equitable society. However, in the story “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut demonstrates to us that enforcing equality in our lives won’t be beneficial. In Vonnegut’s narrative, he enhances his story by including symbolism and imagery to exhibit the contrast between the reality of equality and equity in a society. As an illustration of this idea, Vonnegut includes a large amount of imagery to display...
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...Harrison Bergeron was a short fictional and fantasy story published in 1961 by the author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine. The story takes place in the year 2081 where everyone was finally equal. This equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and the 213th Amendments to the constitution. Also it was due to the continuous watch from the agents of the United States Handicapper General. Nobody was stronger, quicker, smarter, or better looking than anybody else. If they were above average, they would be given handicaps from the government to make sure they were equal to everybody else. Handicaps included weights to make the people weaker, a transmitter to cause people to lose their track of thought, and accessories to make people less attractive. Despite the fact of the government being so strict, there was one...
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...Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 short story Harrison Bergeron takes place in the dystopian future of 2081. The 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the United States Constitution make every American totally equal, with no differences in intelligence, attractiveness, strength, or speed. Americans live in a world where “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” These laws are enforced by a particularly Orwellian-sounding officer called the Handicapper General. Harrison Bergeron, the fourteen-year-old titular character, is taken away from his parents. Due to their average intelligence, his parents, George and Hazel, are not fully aware of the tragic events. (In 2081,...
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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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...definition of equality is “the quality or state of being equal: as a : sameness or equivalence in number, quantity, or measure b : likeness or sameness in quality, power, status, or degree.” Subsequent to reading “Harrison Bergeron”, “when every child is good enough”, and watching a major motion picture “The incredibles”, I ruminated the ideas presented in both the articles and the movies. After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that we should not be equal. In the passage “Harrison Bergeron”, it is a warning against equality because it will destroy individualism in order to create a world of total equality. In this world of total equality, special attributes aren't celebrated in fact it is quite the opposite. The government forces its citizens to hide their special attributes because of the insistence on total equality. Citizens in this story abide by their governments rules because either they agree with the government's goals and/or because they don't want to be punished. In the passage, the character, “Harrison Bergeron” seems to be a prominent symbol of freedom and self acceptance. When Harrison rips off his restraints it is a sign of defiance, but he is still killed by Diana Moon Glampers the Handicap General. Throughout this whole passage, the author Vonnegut, indicates we should...
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...Everyday in America equality is strived for. In recent months, gay marriage has been legalized and feminists have been trying to get job equality for women. Equality typically has a positive connotation, but what if I told you that equality isn't always so good. In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, Harrison Bergeron, total equality is achieved. No one is stronger, more attractive, or smarter than any other person. Every person is given a certain amount of handicaps depending on their abilities, this way everyone is created equal. If you're very strong you're forced to wear weights, and if you’re considered beautiful you are forced to wear a mask, and if you are smart you’re forced to wear a device that makes sounds meant to disturb your thoughts....
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...What would it be like if our world was equal? What would happen if nobody is unique? Everyone would like peace on Earth. To be happy and live a good life. In "Harrison Bergeron," by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., everyone is equal. Nobody is better than anybody else in anything. Nobody can be smart, skinny, or strong Vonnegut Jr. Uses similes, repetition, imagery, and hyperboles to show the equality between the characters. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Uses similes to show the equality between all the characters. Vonnegut describes the sound in George's head "like bandits from a burglar alarm." Every time George thinks something intelligent, a beep-like noise goes off in his head. This sound is described as loud and annoying. It's as if someone is breaking into you head. An effect this makes on readers is hearing the buzzer in George's head and relating to it. Another simile Vonnegut Jr. Uses is "swaying like a willow." This compares the ballerina that is dancing to a willow tree swaying in the air. This shows the dancer dancing gracefully and beautifully. Readers can picture this in...
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...The story “Harrison Bergeron” is about a boy that has supreme talent and is jailed and taken away from his parents. One day Hazel and George Bergeron sit and watch tv. They are watching a performance of ballerinas. The ballerinas littered with handicaps to hide their talent and beauty. All of a sudden the tv program is interrupted by a new bulletin. The news bulletin proclaims that Harrison Bergeron has escaped out of prison and should be considered extremely dangerous. Right then Harrison busts in the studio and appears on stage. He declares to everyone “ I am the emperor, and i will be the greatest of all time” . He then asks for someone to some forward and be his empress. A beautiful ballerina steps forward and takes off her handicaps to join him. They fly up into the air sharing a kiss. Suddenly Diana Moon Glampers rushes into the room with a...
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...short story “Harrison Bergeron” is about a dystopian society in the year 2084. The short story revolves around the lives of George Bergeron, his wife Hazel Bergeron, and their rebellious son, Harrison Bergeron. There are many literary lenses that one can use to interpret this short story, one in particular is the psychoanalytic lens. By reading a story through a psychoanalytic lens, a person uses the work of Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology to interpret the text they are reading. Through the psychoanalytic lens, the reader is able to compare the characters of Harrison Bergeron to parts of a person’s personality, for example, Harrison Bergeron can be compared to the Id, George can be compared to the ego, and the Handicapper general can be compared to the Superego. The Id runs on the pleasure principle whose goal is to increase pleasure and decrease pain, like the Id, Harrison’s goal is to break free of the handicaps that he is forced to wear in order to increase the quality of his life. The Id is the basic storehouse for human’s basic needs and drives. Harrison contains such an incredibly strong drive that it causes him to make irrational decisions. One can say that Harrison even suffers from cathexis because of his obsession with rebellion. Similar to the Id, Harrison does not learn from its mistakes. When Harrison...
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...book Welcome to the Monkey House: A Collection of Short Works by Kurt Vonnegut. Welcome to the Monkey House: A Collection of Short Works consists of 25 short stories most of which had previously appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Ladies Home Journal, Fantasy and 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...
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