Harris Bergeron & by the Waters of Babylon

Vonnegut's writing style throughout the novel is very flip, light, and sarcastic. The narrator's observations and the events occurring during the novel reflect a dark view

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

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

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

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

The subject of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is equality. The theme of this short story is that society should make an effort to value individuality and fairness, in which everyone receives what they need to prosper, instead of universal equality. The forms used to elevate this subject and theme are point of view, syntax, characterization, irony, and humor.

In his story “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ( 1961) proves that not all of mankind can be equal.

Both stories have serious warnings about what could happen to us in the future. In “By the Waters of Babylon” the warning is if we are not careful with the technology we have, we could destroy the entire planet and we would have to restart. The import warning from “Harrison Bergeron” is that if we had handicaps on how talented people could be, we would all just be average. This is a very important message, if everyone was the same we would be way behind with technology and basically everything else we have today. Both messages from the stories are similar in the sense of technology is every dangerous and in the future it will just become more and more advanced.

“By The Waters of Babylon” is a short story written by Stephen Vincent Benet that explores the innate behaviors of human beings and describes the aftermath of a nuclear war. In the beginning of the story, the narrator, John, introduces a taboo that is normal amongst his tribe,“The Hill People.” This indigenous law states that it is forbidden to cross the great river and to look upon the Place of the Gods, for it was greatly populated with spirits and demons. As a manifestation of John’s step towards adulthood or priesthood, John embarks on his curiosity voyage to the Place of the Gods, defying the well established rule within their tribe. Upon his arrival, he stumbles on an elusive and isolated setting with advanced technologies, which he deemed magical. Due to John’s expedition, he accumulated a plethora of knowledge and soon realized that the Place of the Gods was only a superstition and it was, in fact, a city of men.

Kurt Vonnegut published “Harrison Bergeron” to express his thoughts of what a world with equality might look like. The setting of this takes place in front of a TV to emphasis how much is it looked to for answers. The government wants everyone the same and will go to any means necessary. In the constitution, “all men are created equal” can be found, and this short story explores the ideas of when that sentence is taken too literal. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Vonnegut paints his readers a picture illustrating the dangers of conforming three different individuals, Hazel, George, and Harrison, to the same level of expectation through the power of government control and television.

To emphasize his message that both failures and benefits will result from one’s physical attributes Kurt Vonnegut Jr uses imagery throughout his short story “Harrison Bergeron. In the society that George and Hazel live in, there are

First of all, the conformity is one of similarity in both stories because everybody follows the rules and rituals, there are no difference among citizens, and no different thoughts between all people. Harrison Bergeron (1961) is set in a future dystopian America in 2081, which it is often seen as a powerful critique of the authoritarian state. This story is a form of fiction in which a society's attempt to develop a great world goes wrong. While the main theme is people are made equal by device such as technology (masks, radio, television), this is shown to be the dark side of an ideal. According to Kurt Vonnegut’s story (1961), “nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” (p. 1). In other words, we can claim that equality thing in this story is a beloved basis doctrine enshrined in America’s Declaration of Independence in the phrase “All men are created equal”, but the writer suggested that the ideals of egalitarianism can be dangerous if they are taken too far. Also, this text can also be interpreted as a direct critique of Socialism, because the proggressive American community of Harrison Bergeron (1961) operates on socialist or communist principles, supporting the idea that “wealth” and “power” should be distributed social class

The air is rancid and smokey, causing a haze to form over the sun. The distant skyline is in rubble, as if an energetic toddler knocked them to the ground like building blocks. The city looked bland and grim without the bustle of people and the soft glow of the street lights. This is what the future holds, damned by society and its misuse. In “By the Waters of Babylon”, the story is set in a distant future near New York City. After a major disaster wiped out most of the civilization, a tribe started over from scratch. Jon, a priest in training, sets off on a journey east to investigate his dreams and to gain knowledge. In “Harrison Bergeron”, the story is set in a future where everyone must be equal, using handicaps to limit above average people and their abilities. George and Hazel Bergeron, the parents of Harrison, watch as he publicly defies the government and shows what it means to be free. In both, “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benet and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., we see a twisted and dire future. The events that take place heed as warnings or lessons about the dangers of technology and how too much of one thing, such as equality or knowledge, can set society back.

“The story is a satire, a parody of an ideological society divorced from common sense reality” (Townsend). As Townsend stated Kurt Vonnegut makes a satire about society in his fictional short story Harrison Bergeron, which in their society there has been attempt of conformity through the handicaps of the people, the similarity to an authoritarian government, and the technology, whereas the people will eventually overcome.

Hattenhauer is the associate professor of American Literature at Arizona State University West. In his above article, Hattenhauer discusses the use of satire in Vonnegut's story, Harrison Bergeron as used to portray the concept of true equality as being absurd and unachievable.