preview

Harrison Bergeron Essay

Satisfactory Essays

In the short story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut shows that the government will always try to limit the power of the people to keep them within their control. This story shows the power of the law for the government and the ability to keep the people of a country under control. In this story, the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution are what made the people of the United States of America in 2081 equal in both physical and mental capabilities. When Mr. Vonnegut published this short story, Joseph Stalin and the U.S.S.R., a communist country, was in the cold war with U.S.A. At this point in time, the prospect of the U.S.A. losing the war was a very real possibility, and this short story showed the extreme of what the U.S.A. …show more content…

In the story, it is said that the ones with intelligence are given mental handicaps to keep them from having intelligent thoughts for too long and the ones who were beautiful, strong, and or athletic were given masks and weights which they must wear at all times. Also, during the time this was being written, people like Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X were fighting for human rights and the fact that they were not given fair opportunities was almost like they were handicapped. This evidence from the text shows how the handicaps could be used and the real-life surroundings of Kurt Vonnegut and what was happening in America around the time that this short story was being written shows how the government really does handicap certain groups of people to lessen the chance of them becoming successful people. The handicaps are still evident today because Americans and Canadians may like to think that all people have equal opportunities, but, the harsh reality is that women and people of colour are still not given the equal opportunities they deserve. This story also shows that through propaganda and the television, the government can brainwash

Get Access