Harrison Bergeron Analysis

Fair does not always mean equal. Fair and equal are not the same this can be illustrated in the similarities and differences between Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream speech.”

You're in a classroom with many other students awaiting the arrival of a test. Everyone on the edge of their seats as the teacher passes out your grade. That anxious feeling of what grade you got. “Yes I got and A!” You hear the cheerful sound of students celebrating their accomplishment. However when the teacher calls your name, you dread even looking at what you've got. When you finally get the courage to see, you're emotions dig the deepest pit in your stomach. This wasn't the grade you're expecting. Have you ever felt this way and wished that everyone could have gotten the same grade, that everyone had the same advantages at succeeding? Have you ever wanted the world to be equal? In the story Harrison Bergeron author Kurt Vonnegut grants

The government handicaps George’s mental abilities since they are above average, while Hazel’s mental abilities are average.

It takes courage to stand up for one’s beliefs, and not everyone is bold enough to take the chance. Freedom, taking risks, and just living in the moment is displayed in the short story of Harrison Bergeron , when Harrison tries to break free from under the government's laws in the future. In society, everyone is different, and has their own hopes and dreams in their lives that are aimed to be pursued like in Harrison Bergeron. The theme “Total equality isn’t an ideal worth striving for, but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both execution and outcome” is the statement the other is trying to communicate. Kurt Vonnegut, in Harrison Bergeron, helps develop the theme through satire and characterization.

The short-story, “Harrison Bergeron”, take place in 2081, in a future controlled by the Totalitarian government. The fact that the plot takes place in the future is crucial because it is meant as a warning of a possible future. The first line of the story is “The year was 2081 and everyone was finally equal” This phrase addresses the reader and our idea of making people equal instead of equitable. George references life before the second revolution, which would be our present, and how everyone was competing with each other. Even after reminiscing about the past, George and Hazel agree the present is

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.

“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is about a fictional time in the future where everyone is forced to wear handicapping devices to ensure that everyone is equal. As the story begins, George and Hazel Bergeron are sitting on the couch watching television. George is intellectually superior so every few seconds a raucous noise is played in his ear to keep him from being able to hold a consistent thought, which happens continuously throughout the story. This system of “handicappers” is overseen by a rather unsympathetic woman named Diana Moon Glampers. As George and Hazel are watching a ballet on the T.V., the show is interrupted by a bulletin warning viewers that Harrison Bergeron, George and Hazel 's son, has

In the short story harrison bergeron every one is set in a Stalinist utopia everyone is rendered equal through the process of handicapping the people’s intelligence and physical attributes. The characters changed a lot between the short story and the movie even the main character and the changes affected and expanded upon the theme a lot in quite a few different ways Road map sentence: the characters in harrison bergeron changed a lot between the two mediums to expand upon the idea of individuality.

In”Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the family shares similarities and deferences with my family concerning point of view, standing up for what you believe is right, and how it fits into families today. The “Harrison Bergeron” has similarities to my family such as Points of view because in my family everyone has a different option on things. Another thing is standing up for what you believe in, in the story it shows a lot of how concrete Harrison belief is that the handicaps are bad and how he is willing to challenge the whole government over it. There are many families but all of them will have the differences good and bad.

In Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. writes a utopian society where everyone is equal , the year is 2081. The two dancers jumped up to the ceiling. Just then a double barrel ten-gauge goes off and the dancers are dead before they hit the floor. Harrison Bergeron has bravery, a free spirit, and is rebellious. People face strong consequences when they go against what the government says. That is just what Harrison Bergeron did, and he faced the consequences. This is so called equality, this is far from equality. If the government enacted this law then the country would be heading to rock bottom.

Harrison Bergeron is an Icarus tale written by Kurt Vonnegut about a society where everyone is forced to be equal. This story takes place in 2081 where people have handicaps to create an environment where everyone has the same physical and mental capabilities. Harrison Bergeron is the main character who tries to overcome his oppressive society and be free. Harrison achieves his freedom, but it is short lived and he perishes soon after. This is almost identical to Ovid’s Icarus, where Icarus flies towards the sun to be free, but dies soon after. In the story Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut is warning the read not to dwell on insecurities because they trap people in negativity, cause people to lose sight of surroundings, and weigh people down.

In “Harrison Bergeron”, we are meant to feel bad for George and Hazel Bergeron because of how they are being punished for the kind of people they are mentally and physically, the conflict and ending of their son’s life, and Harrison’s failed rebellion.

For starters, the short story demonstrates how the government was to keep order and ‘protect’ their citizens. The text states that “All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.” This shows that the futuristic society had laws that prevented any above average behavior, and if any were to disobey, they would be punished in the name of the law. There were many ways that they could be punished. In fact, the text specifically states, “Two years in prison and a two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out.” This shows the cost of relieving yourself from the unfair punishment, and the citizen were well aware of the fact. This would have kept order and made sure that the rules were followed, no matter who the person was.

“What is equality?” one might ask. We all have different views on specific topics and can describe what something truly means to one’s self like in the 3 text, “I have a dream,” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (published; 8/28/1963, genre; narrative and argumentative), “If we must die,” by Claude Mckay (published; 1919, genre; narrative and lyric), & “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (published; October 1961, genre; satirical & dystopian science-fiction short story). In all 3 texts the authors are giving their touch on equality. Equality can convey being treated the same when a colored and a white man/woman are next to each other as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr says. You can also see equality as Mckay who thinks it’s being on the same level of strength and worth as a white man being in the shoes of a colored man. Or equality can be being exactly the same in every way as anyone around you in every exact way in Vonnegut’s eyes. All these 3 authors have a particular view on how to answer “What is equality?” and we can compare their ideas.

The story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is about a couple in the year 2081. In 2081 the government wants everyone to be equal so they hand out handicaps to people with good looks, vision, strength, brains, and other talents. The couple, Hazel and George Bergeron, are watching dancers on tv when an announcer comes on. He says a person named Harrison Bergeron has escaped prison. Then they hear a thud and see a figure matching Harrison’s description at the door. He goes up to the stage, rips off his handicaps, and asks one of the dancers to volunteer to be his Empress. When one comes up he takes off her handicaps and they begin to dance. They start to float till they kiss the ceiling. The doors burst open and in walks the Handicapper General. She pulls out a gun and shoots them both. I’m going to prove that the setting of this story needs more detail and that the characters, specifically Harrison and Hazel Bergeron, have nice subtle backstories.