Harrison Bergeron A Dystopian Society

Equality in society means everyone is the same, in personal attributes as well as public living. However, extreme measures of interpreting equality in this way destroys individuality. Imagine all people being “equal in every which way”, including intelligence, physical means, talents, and appearance. In the dystopian short story, Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, the shift in tone, selection of details, and symbolic use of handicaps demonstrate that no society can be totally equal without the sacrifice of the individual and self expression.

In the reading “Harrison Bergeron” the author Kurt Vonnegut Jr demonstrates how the three main characters; George, Hazel and Harrison act in this new futuristic society. We get a small glimpse of what the year 2081 will most likely be made of. This will be ruled by the agents of the United States Handicapper General. The people will be force to be equal in every way; their appearance, their intelligence, their religion, etc. We get to see people who obey the laws as well as people who want to overthrow the government. In this futuristic society, intelligence plays a huge role as well since we witness how people with different levels are treated like George, Hazel and Harrison. The theme of this reading is that forced equality is dangerous

A utopia is an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens whereas a dystopia is an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically being a totalitarian or environmentally degraded society. The world of 2BR02B, can be considered both a utopian, and a dystopian society. Some things about it make it seem like that it’s a perfect world but there are other aspects of it that make it seem like it’s a terrible world to live in. By considering 2BR02B a utopian society, we need to look at certain things.

A utopian society would be classified as perfect and just for all. This society has been conceived numerous times throughout history along with numerous ideologies. Although these ideologies have solved specific problems, none of them can be considered perfect due to numerous perceptions, which in turn would prevent perfection. In 1984, the Party made a totalitarian government. Like other oppressive governments throughout history, the ideology designed by the Party was not capable of creating a society that could support all people. Currently democracy provides the best society, but can still create oppositions of views. Even though some ideologies may present themselves as ideal, when applied to reality, they fail due to uncontrollable factors. This means an “ideal” society is impossible for mankind to accomplish as proposed by the totalitarian government in 1984 and from historical events.

A prominent symbol within the text is the handicap which represents the government’s control over the population. In the beginning of the story, George is introduced as a man with above average intelligence so, he is “required by law to wear [his handicap ear radio] at all times” (Vonnegut 33). George is unable to have stimulating ideas due to his impediment because it plays loud noises to interrupt his train of thought. The handicaps are a mechanism for the government to subdue those who appear to be a threat and censor citizens’ thoughts. Hence, these impediments are a symbol of governmental control over the people as an attempt to achieve total equality. Consequently, the egalitarian based government heavily regulates society through handicap restrictions on individuals to erase the attributes that makes them unique. Moreover, Harrison Bergeron himself is a symbol of the rebellion against the government and the repercussions of implementing total equality. While on live television, Harrison breaks free from his impediments and begins to dance gracefully with a ballerina in which “[n]ot only are the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well” (Vonnegut 36). In addition to breaking the amendments by removing his handicaps, Harrison also moves

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, is a short story that explores the ideas of humanity in the future. This author is blatantly proving how the saying “everyone is equal” is not entirely true. In this story, the government that imposes totalitarianism has went through the actions of processing equality to the citizens of the United States and through the agents involved with the United States Handicapper General. This showed how this government was able to take the idea of equality and end up stripping the citizens of processing individual thoughts, their creativity and intellect, and basically brainwashed society to believe nothing happening should be considered incorrect behavior Incidentally, Harrison Bergeron is not simply an interesting short story, but was intended for historical satire purposes.

Harrison Bergeron is a very compelling utopian story which is very good read. The focus of this essay is the Handicaps which is used in the story to get true equality in everyone. In the story, the Bergerons are watching a ballet performance on their tv. In the middle of the performance, it is announced that their son has escaped from prison. They don’t recognize their son, however, and continue to watch the show. Their son comes onto the stage and convinces people to take their handicaps off, but is eventually shot. All the parents remember from this is the fact that they felt sad and that they had witnessed something. The were incapable of recalling what exactly happened and eventually forgot about Harrison.

in the future, and the future is egalitarianism. As a result of egalitarianism everyone has handicaps . The overall message of “Harrison Bergeron” is about over equality and the effects of it. In both versions of the goal was to be average, and if you were above or below average then they would be given a handicap. Accordingly the main focus is being equal, but for some characters it’s controversial. There is no self expression, envy, just for the sake of benevolence.

In 2081, the government has created the position of Handicapper General, whose duty is to add handicaps to those who are above average in any way. While Hazel Bergeron was completely average in mental capacity, her husband, George, was well above average. To compensate, the Handicapper General had placed a radio in his ear to, “keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brain.” The idea of treating everyone equal, regardless of physical or mental abilities, as described within the story, is taking satirical shots at liberal ideas in government. Once the government has made everyone equal, those who stand out represent a threat, including the Bergeron’s son Harrison, who was too athletic and handsome to be a part of the general population. He was taken away from his parents, at the age of fourteen, by the Handicapper General, because he was too exceptional. Too promote the ongoing liberal ‘equality,’ the government basically changes into total authoritarian, by eliminating any threat that could lead to

A dystopia is an unequal, unpleasant world or society that is facing struggle, violence, and other factors that affect the society’s lives. Dystopias typically have a ruling and powerful force that own and controls all. In the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr,, the humans in the society are forced to live “normal” and be “normal”, with the basic motive of “no more, no less” ; therefore, those who are prettier and smarter than others have handicapped placed on them in order as much as possible, much to dismay.Megan B. Wyatt states that our world is slowly becoming a dystopia. Equality is a way of having everyone with equal opportunity, right, and acceptance. I believe that Megan B. Wyatt’s opinion is valid, in the way that the world

Living in a Utopian Bubble A society should be made up of different people, ages, religions, color, and freedom and not in a world where everyone is the same, have restricted freedoms, and where everyone worships one individual. In both, 1984 by George Orwell and North Korea are both examples of that type of society, called a dystopia. A dystopia is “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives” (“Dystopia”) and a utopia is “a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions” (“Utopia”). I believe that utopias become dystopias, because no place can be perfect. Places that want to become utopias often try too hard to make people believe that they live in the perfect world.

The world in any society has two sides, Utopia which is defined as the perfect world and the peaceful life that is free from disasters. This word " Utopia " is derived from Greek roots by Sir Thomas More which means "a good place" (More 37). Merriam Webster defined Utopia as "an imaginary place, all life aspects are perfect, as the world suffers from nothing" (Webster 19). while Dystopia is defined as an imagined universe in which the unequal society controls the fancy of an ideal society which are maintained through technological, moral, corporate or totalitarian control " Beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds but we still have the power to change our own" (Condie 75). in which the genre challenges utopia’s

A utopia is a place where everything is perfect, especially in its social, political and moral aspects and it is the exact opposite of a dystopia. A dystopia is a place in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivasion, oppression or terror.

people think of utopias as a happy place where they can go and everything is perfect, but a dystopia

A dystopia is a fictional society that is the opposite of utopia. It is usually characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government, or some other kind of oppressive social control.