Comparing Equality In Harrison Bergeron And Anthem

The story of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is about a dystopian future of America that forces its citizens to be completely equal. The way that they enforce the rules is by forcing the strong to wear weights and the intelligent to be given mental handicaps. The style of writing Vonnegut uses to portray his story of equality is very subtle. Vonnegut uses diction, imagery, and syntax, to help the reader understand the characters, mood, and visuals.

In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, the government creates an oppressed society by making everybody equal. Set in 2081, the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments are added to the Constitution to create true equality. The strong are required to wear weights, the intelligent are required to wear radios that emit painful noises, and the beautiful are required to wear masks. This shows that the government is trying to create physical and mental equality by handicapping the gifted to the level of the average. This creates an oppressed society because instead of improving

To achieve equality, the government denies it’s citizens their freedom and expression while torturing them in the process. The intelligent, strong, and beautiful are forced to hinder their attributes by wearing handicaps. Since George is considered one of the bright, he is required to wear a handicap radio in his ear: “Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains” (Vonnegut 1). Meanwhile, the athletic and attractive are paying for having an upper hand as well: “They were burdened with sash weights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, … something the cat drug in” (Vonnegut 1). Having an advantage is the opposite because the government realizes it is more attainable to

The two literary elements that help distinguish the works of a dystopia genre are symbolism and conflict. There is a lot of symbolism in the book Anthem. The book is filled with them. It is also filled with conflict. This also goes with the short story” Harrison Bergeron“this story also has a lot conflict in it.

“Anthem” is an engrossing novel by Ayn Rand focusing on the character Equality 7-2521’s descent into rebellion against the new socialistic government that has taken all previous scientific advancement out of life, only to leave the ideology of collectivism. His quest to discover, learn, and invent is problematic for those that oversee the progress of the civilization, and from roughly around the age of five, he is punished for his nature. Soon enough, the twenty-one year old is on a journey to learn, not only about nature’s mysteries, but also about what sets him apart from his dead-eyed peers. Equality 7-2521 has many distinctive characteristics that others in the restricted city do not, some of which are relatable, and others that are indeed

Equality 7-2521 and Harrison Bergeron live in societies where being different is sinister. Both Harrison Bergeron and Equality are physically and intellectually superior to others in their societies. Due to the fear both societies hold toward individuality, these two protagonists are frowned about and otherwise seen as outcasts. In Anthem, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, is six feet tall and genius. He is frowned upon because none of his “brothers”, another word for the fellow men in his society, are that tall. Equality’s teacher says “THere is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers” (Rand 18). Even Equality’s own teachers look down on him because he is different. He is viewed as evil for something he can’t change. Harrison Bergeron from “Harrison Bergeron”, found

“There will come a time when it isn’t “They’re spying on me through my phone” anymore. Eventually, it will be “My phone is spying on me.” - Philip K. Dick. This quote is basically demonstrating how the present can become a dystopian future no matter how good it is today. Two dystopian pieces are “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem. “Harrison Bergeron” is a short story about one person who dares to be himself; superior, in a society where inequality is outlawed. Anthem is a novella about Equality 7-2521, a simple cog in a machine of a society that has a main focus of being equal to all of your brothers; working for your brothers. Although “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem are both dystopian pieces, they differ through the concepts of family and technology.

Our world could fall apart and could have a chance to turn into a Dystopia. They are societies that are taken over that turned into a Dystopia. They have similarities and differences in “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem. In the texts “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem there was similar by breaking the rules and different by how they are controlled.

“Fear nothing, out brothers” (Rand 70). In Anthem Equality is a boy living in a collective society where no family or love is allowed. “Harrison Bergeron” is about being equal. However the leaders of the society can make things equal, they will. Although “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem are both dystopian literature, they differ in their differences of family and technology.

Equality is pushed upon each citizen. But with this equality, comes aforementioned characteristics: submission, hopelessness, detachedness, conformity, and isolation. Superiority is punished. As written in chapter I, "It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them" (21). In this way, uniqueness is repressed when it should be

Even though many may believe that thanks to the handicaps, everyone was equal, I strongly disagree with that. The first reason I believe that the society they lived in was not equal because in the text it says “nobody had ever been born with heavier handicaps. He had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could make them up.” which shows that they weren't actually equal because the handicaps didn't really work on harrison, because no matter handicaps Harrison had, he was still able to outgrow then which meant that he always had more power than everyone else no matter what handicaps they made him wear.

The short story, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, and "Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, are both stories that strongly express equality, in different and similar ways. Both dystopian stories are about a boy who is trying to fight to become an individual. Though out both stories the author use different ways to how show how the protagonists tries to achieve their goal, and both stories end up differently.

The setting of this book has to be set in the future and in the United States.The setting must be set in the future because now we have serious equality issues and no one is that equal, especially in America.In this story, the goal was for everyone to be equal, “Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else”. However, for people like George, who had a “way above normal intelligence”, you were required to wear a little handicap radio that sent out loud noises every 20 or so seconds, which made it hard to use his intelligence to his advantage.It has to be in America because of the new amendments. All of this equality is “due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution.”The general

Since the genesis of time people have strived to achieve complete equality. We have tried to give people “equal rights” nonetheless it has failed to create perfect uniformity. Now imagine a world where government has created rules and regulations that bring people down to the same level. Imagine what would happen if the government decided to create equality through regulating publics’ intelligence, wealth, power and attractiveness. It might sound like a perfect place for residing until we don’t go in its dept. Imagine how a government would accomplish this mission. Answer to that question can be found in a short dystopian fiction story called Harrison Bergeron written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The story sets the plot in 2081. Keeping in mind the story was first

What makes you unique? Your looks? Your opinions? Your wisdom? Now, imagine living in a society where you are not allowed to stand out and you are forced to be like everyone else. The short story Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, displays a society in which people have to adapt their qualities, such as appearance and intelligence, to fit equal standards. The reader experiences a day in the lives of George Bergeron, a man with an above average intelligence, who is forced to lower his mental capacity to the level of average people like his wife, Hazel Bergeron. The laws and standards in this society are created and controlled by an association called The United States Handicapper General. The author’s message in the book is that total equality