Inequality In Harrison Bergeron

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I, as the oldest of three children, could tell you many stories of when things seemed unfair or unequal. I could also recount many examples of short stories, passages, or articles from school that showcased the ideal of inequality. Our most recent story, though, was unlike any other story I had witnessed or read in class. It was the short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and it described a utopia turned dystopia where a fight for equality has been taken too far. Equality can be viewed in many different ways. However, what is equal to one person will most likely not be the perfect idea of equality to everyone. In trying to make the world a place of perfect equality, this “utopian society” had to sacrifice the pure essence of life, in that being the ideas of individualism and diversity. Vonnegut writes “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” This shows that, through the use of extensive “handicaps” (such as weights to make one weaker, or special hearing aids that emit painful noises to scramble the citizens thoughts), the so-called “utopian society” needed to …show more content…
He writes of how these diversities are take away in saying that “...[the ballerina’s] faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat dragged in.” This shows that as the family of Harrison Bergeron is watching television, the government still wants the viewers to not notice any sign of diversity and feel like they are less than capable. The quote demonstrates ideas that such powers given to the government can result in an abundance of unneeded protocols. This also proves that many problems could formulate from taking away ideas of individuality and

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In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut the message conveyed is that equality would not be equal at all. Vonnegut writes how those who had greater thinking capabilities “had a little mental handicap radio” (Vonnegut). These radios transmit sounds that are many times painful to those wearing the device to keep them from having long term thoughts. Doing so prevents smart people from using their brains which are given to them by chance, not a choice, essentially controlling people’s…

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Technology In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

The short story,”Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. paints the troubles of a society believing in equality among all. This short story speaks of a time in the year 2081 when people must wear handicaps to bring the more talented people down to the level of average. These ideals of justness result in problems such as Harrison, an extremely gifted young man who shakes the world for a few minutes by invading a studio and proclaiming himself to be the “king”. This ultimately results in him, the…

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Inequality Essay

character George Bergeron is forced to stay equal by the government’s laws of equality while his wife, Hazel Bergeron, is of only average intelligence, and consequently not given a handicap. Their son, however, has broken the laws of equality and is fugitive of the United States Handicapper General. The conflict between the United States Handicapper General and the Bergeron family helps to establish and develop the theme of a false perception of equality. George and Hazel Bergeron help to establish…

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Similarities Between Harrison Bergeron And Anthem

In “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem, these stories show this scenario in two different ways. They both are dystopian stories with a character that is against everyone being the exact same. Although both of these stories have a theme centered around equality, it is enforced in different ways. Equality is an important aspect of each story, as it allows them to convey their main theme about individualism. They both portray this “too much equality” scenario in a negative manner. In “Harrison Bergeron”…

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Jealousy In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

made was equal, I disagree. This is because in the story “Harrison Bergeron,” all the citizens were forced to wear handicaps. These handicaps were supposed to make everyone equal by covering up beauty, brain, and brawn. Adding on to all this, they were treated poorly. The first topic to discuss is the ‘beauty’ handicap. The text says, “... flung away his rubber ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor,...” This is about Harrison taking off his handicaps, and revealing a handsome face. The…

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