Equal Utopia In Harrison Bergeron, By Kurt Vonnegut

At first, the reader could think that this average intelligence means that these people would have basic comprehension skills, but readers are almost immediately putt off rom George and Hazel’s short term memory, “Hazel had perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts…” (1) This along with the explanation of George’s mind being limited from a government transmitter as well as seeing ballerinas handicapped by weights and masks on the TV show the reader that this society is being psychologically dominated by its leaders. Vonnegut does not exactly state this theme, however through the use of selected details of the character’s lives, the oppression of individuality is

Based on what I read, it says “every few seconds, a transmitter would make a sharp sound to stop George from thinking”, “That was a pretty dance, Hazel said”, and “George toyed with the idea of ballerinas shouldn’t be handicapped.” This is significant by the reason is that in twenty seconds, George was still able to think of how the ballerinas should not be handicapped when he has handicaps stopping him from thinking a few seconds later. As for Hazel, all she can think of was how the ballerinas dance beautifully. While others may believe that handicaps can control and maintain people to be equal, what they should think about is about the intelligence each person has. For example, George is above average and is able to have the advantage to think of many things.CONCLUSION

Picture a society, far in the future, where everyone, by government control, must be on the same level. Would this be Hell or a utopia? This is the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron”. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear multiple handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks. In turn, these constraints leave the world equal, or arguably devoid of, from brains to brawn to beauty. With the constant push for equality among all people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. “Harrison Bergeron” is written as a form of satire with heavy irony, to demonstrate the clear difference between equity and equality in society. “Harrison Bergeron” is

Point being if only some people had handicaps and some people did not society would not truly be equal because for everyone to be equal they would all have to have handicaps and have the same handicaps.

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine even brighter. Vonnegut uses satire to explore the question of whether true equality can ever really exist.

Equality is what a society wants in order to not have competition. For instance, “They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” (Vonnegut 22). People not competing with one another shows how living in harmony amongst one another to avoid conflicts is what the government wants for the people. However, people always will think against what the government wants for instance, “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn't be handicapped” (Vonnegut 22). This shows how even when made equal to everyone people still have these thoughts that contradict with that the

Finally, people in the story, Harrison Bergeron, does not have equal rights. For instance,  Diana Moon Glampers punishes the people who doesn’t follow the law, even though Diana is a citizen of United States. This back ups my point by how if everyone was truly equal, they would have equal rights, that means Diana would not be in charge of everyone and violate other people’s rights. People may argue with me by saying Diana is suppose to make sure that no one breaks the law, I say that it would help support my claim by how it means that everybody isn’t really equal. This clarifies that everybody is not really equal, even if there is there is a law that says everyone is equal. Thus meaning, that the law doesn’t really indicate everyone is really equal by how the government needs to force a handicap on people that are above average to balance everything out.

Some may argue while equality is still a hinderance; it still is universally equal, instead of being unequal as the theme displays “equality” to be. They may argue this because of the supposed success of the handicaps, because they inhibit thought, strength, or agility, making sure nobody is superior to anybody else. This is shown by Hazel and George within the text. Hazel is extremely dull, and George is exceptionally smart, but they are both equal, thanks to handicaps. However, this is not always the case, as shown with Harrison and his would-be bride. Harrison’s handicaps are extremely heavy, to ensure that he is equal to everyone else. But he isn’t, being significantly stronger and smarter than everybody else, even with his handicaps. This displays the hindrance that is equality to be unequal.

Harrison Bergeron is a valuable story that has underlying themes, which are very relevant in our current society. The theme of equality can be seen throughout the book, and it is the principle that is enshrined in America’s constitution now, whereby they claim that all men are equal. Kurt Vonnegut demonstrates the issue of equality in a Utopian society. Vonnegut in his story, cautions Americans on the dangers of creating a truly equalitarian society, whereby citizens go to an extent of sacrificing their freedom, and individuality to the state, to create a place where all people are equal. Vonnegut creates a society whereby, all people are made equal. The beautiful are forced to wear hideous masks to disfigure their beauty, those considered intelligent are to wear radio calls, and ear splitting noises that are supposed to impede their thinking, and the strong are forced to wear weights around their necks throughout the day. The author uses masks, and the weights as symbols to symbolize

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

Have you ever pondered over the equality of everyone? Well, if you believe that equality is important, you may want to think again. In the dystopian short story, “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut, the author, uses satire to convey his message. Satie is something meant to make fun of or show the weakness of human nature or a particular person. Vonnegut’s message is that not everyone must be equal in every way.The character, Harrison Bergeron, wants to make everyone understand that being equal comes with a consequence, the decline of freedom and individuality, but he got shot so metaphorically the idea of freedom and individuality died with him.

Harrison Bergeron, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, is not written for the light reader. This story of equality shows deeply of how horrid it would be to be born special, different, smarter, faster, stronger, etc, in a world where you are forced to be equal. Despite the usual connotation of the word equality, Kurt Vonnegut looks at the cost of making everyone be the same. He has shown through his words the torture you must endure in order to make you the same as everyone else, being a radio intending to scatter your thoughts, weights to weigh you down, or even a hideous, grotesque, mask used to hide your charming face. After you’ve lived with these handicaps a man, named Harrison Bergeron, trying to change how things are interrupts your show.

In the literary piece “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, we enter a futuristic dystopian society in which all citizens have been forced into equality by a government that rules with corrupt omnipotence. From the very beginning of his hauntingly prophetic tale, Vonnegut lures us in by revealing what our society has devolved into at the hands of the wrong system in power. In the name of equality, the attractive are mutilated, the strong are weakened, and the intelligent are handicapped. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal” (¶1) Vonnegut states in his captivating opening line. Through this dismal tale, Vonnegut reveals that forced and total equality is nothing more than a perilous fallacy. He suggests that complete equality is not as ideal as one might think; in fact, it is more dangerous than we could have ever conceived.

This shows that Hazel didn’t suffer, while George had to. This in it of itself shows inequality. This is an example of suffering the consequences of what you have no control of.

Everyone in Harrison Bergeron was definitely equal, and not in a good way. A lot of people wish to have equality, but not to this extent. In Harrison Bergeron, everyone was literally and painfully equal. There was no diversity in people in Harrison Bergeron; everyone was completely the same. If I lived in this universe, I would be unbelievably depressed. Although they are completely equal, they do not have tensions between different groups and organizations, and that is a problem in today’s society. No one is created equally, but the officials in the book made equality no problem.