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Harrison Bergeron Analysis

Decent Essays

Harrison Bergeron Short Story Essay
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.
Citizens are all equal and no one is above anyone else. The setting is takes place in the future, the year of 2081. To begin with, Kurt Vonnegut uses satire to introduce the theme. In Harrison Bergeron, the author states “All equality [is] due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agent of the United States Handicapper General” (Vonnegut). Readers can tell the quote is sarcastic because the U.S doesn’t have as near as that many amendments yet. In other words, sarcasm read in the tone helps indicate the satire in the beginning of the story. Therefore, the satire in the quote, shows how the author develops the theme into the story. With this in mind, characterization is also a way the

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