...the same? How would the government be portrayed? How would society react and/or behave? The answers remain unanswered, but Kurt Vonnegut made his inference alive in “Harrison Bergeron.” The story is a reflection of the United States in 2081, and it’s new government where everyone is physically and mentally identical, except for Harrison Bergeron. The conflict in “Harrison Bergeron” was Harrison Bergeron expressing his individuality versus accepting the rules of equality that the government has imposed. Vonnegut portrayed the government as a “big brother” to the nation. The government controlled everything by making everyone “the same.” They used media to control citizens’ minds and to frighten them from doing things--pretty much how the government does things today. However, not everyone agreed to how the government controlled things, causing a disruption in the society. Vonnegut’s message is that equality is impossible to achieve, and that it’s not worth risking your life for. The government was portrayed as the “big brother” of the United States because they controlled all actions. They did so by equalizing everyone...
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...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 to genuine...
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...are oppressed to conformity? Kurt Vonnegut explores this question in his short story and uses several ironic situations to illustrate how unequal this futuristic dystopian society actually is. This homogenous world is based on false premises that by molding variations in individuals can result in conformity; however, people are born with human predispositions and differences related to body size, intellect, and beauty. This inclination of diversity makes it genetically impossible to adapt to a sterile conforming society, which exemplifies the story’s main theme. In “Harrison Bergeron”, the author, Kurt Vonnegut, uses irony to illuminate the story’s theme of society versus the individual by exhibiting the limitation of people’s freedom, deciding what morality is, and the...
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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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...stories are still being written in today’s societies that follow the elements of Aristotelian theory. One story written in relatively recent history is that of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. which in many aspects, can be considered a Aristotelian tragedy. Aristotle described a tragedy as a story that consisted of a tragic hero and a plot that would generate fear and pity in its audience. In this story, fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron valiantly attempts to break free from an equality-based society, but is quickly denied by the authoritative force of the government. The most important element in Aristotelian tragedy is the plot of a story. Aristotle states in Poetics that a story must consist of a beginning, middle, and end (Aristotle, 7). "Harrison Bergeron" fits this description very well because the beginning, middle, and end can be clearly identified while reading the story. The story opens by giving a description of what the society people live in is like. "THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way" (1). By reading this description of what life was like, one gets the idea that people lived in a totalitarian-based society. As the story progresses, the reader is introduced to Hazel and George Bergeron, who are watching a ballet program on their television when a special news bulletin...
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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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...creation of one model and all others massed produced to replicate. Vonnegut relates America’s society and government in 2081 to today’s progressive controllability. There is so much manipulation today to over see and interact in attempt to create equality. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut mocks today and tomorrow’s society for it’s complete government empowerment, it’s gullibility towards modern media, and it’s incapability to exercise personal individuality. Vonnegut introduces the reader to George Bergeron, father of Harrison and husband to Hazel Bergeron, a family in the year 2081. Government has implemented characteristic handicaps in attempt to create equality in society. Impairments to alter ones thinking pattern interrupted with a government hearing aide placed in an intelligent individual’s ear on a continuous abrupt interruption with twenty second intervals, weights to be carried to restrain one’s physical strength, and masks to cover up one’s physical beauty creating a society where no one person stands above another. George Bergeron is described as a strong man who wears these restraints around his neck and is annoyingly un-able to complete his trans of thought due to the overwhelming noise broadcasted by the government through the earpiece. It is frightening how these impairments are accepted and allowed to be demonstrated by the government. George is well informed to the history of society, the unpredictable society contributed by individuality...
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...T. J. Rankl Mr. Beach ELA Block 3 20 December 2016 Trouble in Paradise: Vonnegut’s Use of Satire in “Harrison Bergeron” What would happen to the world if the people were literally equal in every aspect of their lives? "Harrison Bergeron," composed by Kurt Vonnegut, concentrates on equity physically and mentally unequivocally controlled by the administration in the year 2081; the wonderful are constrained to look monstrous, the physically gifted are required to wear weights. With these impediments making everyone so equivalent, the world turned out to be altogether different, odd, and normal. Be that as it may, the legislature has no right or motivation to push the entire world to be "… rise to each which way." To smother somebody's normal...
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...Two Dystopias “Harrison Bergeron” (1961) by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and “The Ones who walk away from Omelas” (2001) by Ursula Leguin are both short stories set in dystopic worlds. In “Harrison Bergeron”, everyone has been made equal. In order to achieve this, anyone who is more intelligent, beautiful, and athletic than others must wear a handicap in order to meet the government’s standards of what they considered to be “average”. In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” the characters live in a world where everybody is happy although living their everyday life with the knowledge of one injustice. This one injustice is that the people of Omelas are aware of a child who is living in a locked cellar with poor conditions, who is malnourished and neglected. The citizens in Harrison’s world are suffering from a life with harsh restriction and do not have the freedom to live life as they want to. The life of the citizens in both stories are unaccepted; however, the world portrayed in “Harrison Bergeron” is more intolerable. In both worlds there are people who are suffering. Most of the habitants of Omelas are living a joyous life but at the expense of one child’s misery; they are aware of the living conditions of the child, yet they choose to live their lives normally. Others who were unable to stand to live with this guilt decided to leave the city. The world described in “Harrison Bergeron”, those who were seen as higher than average has to wear a handicap. For instance, if...
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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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...reasons" (Gaiman xi). Neil Gaiman says it best in the introduction to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, whether it be to warn the public, or to encourage, examine, or imagine, writers continue to describe dystopian worlds that may not be real. Gaiman tells the readers of Fahrenheit 451 that "there are three phrases that make possible writing about the world of not-yet[…]and they are simple phrases: What if…? If only…? If this goes on…" (Gaiman xi). Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 utilizes the latter of these three phrases. Bradbury pictures that if our society continues to substitute knowledge with instant, mindless gratification, the product would be similar to that of Guy Montag's world. Likewise, "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is created around the phrase, "What if...?" Vonnegut's story was developed while thinking about how the world would be if people were handicapped based on their strengths and weaknesses. The genre of science fiction conveys an author's feelings towards our community, and typically towards our community's future. Both of these texts demonstrate a strong theme, while simultaneously allowing these themes to reveal truths about our society. Firstly, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury demonstrates a theme of how one must be aware and knowledgeable to...
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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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...standard usage, the word's meaning has narrowed and now usually describes a non-existent society that is intended to be viewed as considerably better than contemporary society." Dystopia, on the other hand, is the direct opposite of utopia, and is used to describe a utopian society after things have gone diminished. The future based short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is based on a 'utopian society' where the world is living up to the idea of America’s fourteenth amendment in which everyone is created equal. The gifted, strong, intelligent, and beautiful are forced to wear handicaps of either earphones, heavy weights, or hideous...
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...Equality strips society of its freedom and individuality. The undercover superheroes in “The Incredibles” and the handicapped citizens in “Harrison Bergeron” have confronted this exact issue. These two stories incorporate a strict, elaborate system of equality that when disrupted, impose consequences that the characters must suffer. Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopian story, Harrison Bergeron, and The Incredibles, directed by Brad Bird, address the implications of total equality. Both texts use a satirical approach of exaggeration and reversal to convey this message. In the movie and dystopian short story, a governmental authority controls the characters and limits their liberty. To maintain equality, they cannot take unfair advantage of their unique...
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