Equality In Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Imagine a horrifying world where the government has finally made every individual equal in every aspect of their lives. In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., this is a terrifying reality. In this society, the strong are required to wear weights so they can be equal to those that are weaker, the intelligent are required to wear ear pieces that disable their thought process, and beautiful are required to cover their face with hideous masks, thus rendering their mental, physical, and social attributes equal to everyone. With a government constantly pushing for equality among all citizens, Vonnegut reveals a dystopia that society is slowly working toward. Vonnegut uses foreshadowing to reveal the future of society, Vonnegut

‘My God-’ said George, ‘that must be Harrison!’ The realization was blasted from his mind instantly by the sound of an automobile collision in his head” (Vonnegut 3). George’s epiphany helped him recognize the sound of his son's footsteps. When Harrison was still home George heard this noise all the time. Almost as soon as he made this realization his handicap goes off, producing a terrible, loud noise, causing him to forget his train of thought. The author uses the words “blasted” and “instantly” to help the readers understand the severity of the handicaps. He only has the epiphany that it is, in fact, his son on the TV because he was born with a very high IQ, in contrast to George’s wife who does not have a high intelligence and did not realize it was Harrison until George said so. Unfortunately, because of George’s elevated IQ, he has to have the radio handicap, which goes off and causes him to forget that he realized it was his son in the first place. The society deems these handicaps as important, because it stops people from having their own opinion which could lead to retaliation or an uprising. The epiphany that quickly faded from George’s mind demonstrates Vonnegut’s idea that one’s mental attributes will both benefit and fail them.

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.

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.

For example, the eighth paragraph of part one talks about Hazel saying that George looked tired all of a sudden and should rest.  Also the third paragraph in part one says, “Every twenty second or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise.”  Granted that, this means Hazel has sympathy for George and feels as if he needs to take a break from keeping the canvas bag on his neck.  To clarify, George is most like sick and tired of the sound going off in his head.  The canvas bag hanging on his neck must be wearing him out, and it isn’t really good to keep something heavy as twenty - seven pounds on your neck, twenty - four,

Kurt Vonnegut’s unique story “Harrison Bergeron,” displays a theme which is a warning about the dangers of equality, which is equality is a hindrance to an individual’s success and society’s success, but this hindrance is ironically, unequal. In the story, Harrison and his bride are arrested for their unwillingness and inability to stay within the bounds of equality enforced by the Handicapper General. Equality hinders the success of an individual like the weights hinder the beauty and grace of the ballerinas in the story. Equality doesn’t promote everyone to be equally better, but to be unequally worse. Handicaps are no use in ensuring equality, because one’s strengths will always shine through, such as Harrison’s strength and wit, or the

Vonnegut sets his story in 2081, where everyone is equal. No one is smarter, more talented, stronger, or better looking. The government in his story controlled everyone and how they acted and thought with machines. Those who were smarter had a mental handicap radio’s in their ear that made a noise every so often throwing them off the train of thought. The stronger ones had to carry around weight at all times, to make them equal to the weak. Those who were beautiful had to wear mask, or were made to look less beautiful. All competition was gone. However, Vonnegut shows that trying to control everyone, so all are equal is impossible, and can lead to disastrous things. In the story, Harrison Bergeron was arrested for suspicion of overthrowing the government. He escaped jail and on the TV episode of the ballerinas, people watched him take over. He allowed himself and others to take off the equipment controlling them and everyone became an individual again. Until, the leader came in and killed Harrison and the beautiful ballerina as they were dancing. Things became equal again, but not perfect.

In “Harrison Bergeron,” it becomes clear very soon that the society depicted in the story does not favor exceptional human qualities of any kind, be they related to intelligence, physical ability, or outward appearance. For instance, as the Bergeron family watches a ballet dance recital, the manner in which they determine which dancer is the best-looking is by the “hideousness” of the mask that the dancer is forced to wear. As the excerpt reads: “’Ladies and Gentlemen,” said the ballerina, reading the bulletin. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by the two hundred pound men” (Vonnegut n/a). When examining this passage through a Marxist theoretical lens, it becomes clear that Vonnegut is

What is equality? Equality is when everyone is equal. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, it opens a world of fairness. However, this society of ”Harrison Bergeron” is not as equal as expected. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, everyone are unalike in many ways. For example, some are more powerful, have different appearances, can think peacefully, and have less suffering.

(Paragraph Fifty-One) “She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous.” George and Hazel Bergeron were examples of how the government did affect them when having to wear handicaps that lowered their knowledge because they didn’t understand what had happened to their son and they didn’t show any emotion. They were both in pain because they weren’t the same as before. The Handicapper General had killed Harrison that was 14 years old and Hazel was crying about it

To have a perfect society, everyone must be exactly the same, no one can be any better. This is the only way you can get an ideal society. That sounds great right? Maybe not. In Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, the society in America is controlled by the government by series of handicaps keeping the people from being unique, it’s a game of total government control.

In an ideally progressive America, society should value both equality and diversity. Equality is justice. Diversity is individuality. Equality gives rights. Diversity enriches culture. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideally progressive America. As equality in our society has increased, we have viewed it as progress. However, diversity has often been a source of conflict in our society. Jealousy, confusion, anger, and so many negative emotions have arisen from our differences and slowed the progress of equality. Perhaps, diversity should just be done away with. If we can not value our diversity, should we focus entirely on equality? Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” answers that question with a solid no, we should not. Through his

Harrison Bergeron is about the future and how equality takes a role today and how it might affect the future. The story was written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The story starts of where everyone is equal in the year 2081. The story is about the Bergeron family who live in the 21st century

The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal. This, in a nutshell, is the assumption of Kurt Vonnegut’s small story "Harrison Bergeron." Vonnegut’s title role Harrison Bergeron is a drawing excellent man standing: very tall, good-looking and smart. Although our nation would deem these outstanding properties, in this story’s 2081 AD environment they are extremely objectionable. Kurt Vonnegut uses the figure, Harrison Bergeron, to demonstrate the threat of commanding total balance on a diversified community.

The short story is set in the year of 2081 when society has achieved ultimate equality. The characters George and Hazel are introduced in the beginning of the story sitting in their living room and watching television. They have just experienced a traumatic event as their son, Harrison Bergeron, was taken from them by government officials. In this time period the government has taken it upon itself to establish equality among society. They have done this by requiring all citizens to acquire handicaps to anyone with a higher intelligence than another. George Bergeron has a higher intelligence level than his wife, Hazel, therefore is handicapped by having a small ear piece placed in his ear to play obnoxious and distracting sounds that scatter his thoughts every twenty seconds. In addition to this handicap George is also required to carry extra weight with him in a bag tied around his neck. Although Harrison was taken only minutes before, his parents have already forgotten about him. They