Harrison Bergeron Fatal Flaw

In “Harrison Bergeron,” mankind has created a different kind of torture for humans they have created handicaps that create loud noise to stop them from thinking too deeply and weights to slow him down and masks to make people uglier. “. . . had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. . . every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking advantage of their brains” (14-17). This technology made life miserable and dull and caused people to become oblivious to problems in their lives The author makes this story to tell his readers that being equal is not necessarily a good thing. The technology of the future is dangerous if treated without care or given to the wrong people. The authors both give warnings about the future and how we must be careful with technology and how being equal is not always good.

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

Throughout the story the theme that actions have serious consequences is evident. In the moment the sniper is ready and eager to shoot at the enemy. But after the moment is over, the sniper realizes just how awful his actions are.

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

Harrison is the perfect example of this kind of rebellion. Although he is only fourteen, “he is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous” (141). Due to his abilities, he is in prison because he is a threat to society. Harrison is aware that a new society must emerge, and he breaks out of prison, removes his handicaps, and for just a moment, shows his individuality. In the government’s eyes, Harrison is a rebel, and rebels are people that have no place in society, and must die. Diana Moon Glampers, who is the Handicapper General and represents conformity, kills Harrison and his selected mate with whom he wanted to rule a more humane America. She then threatens everyone else with force in the television station with a shotgun by “aiming it at the musicians and told them they have ten seconds to get their handicaps back on” (143). Although Harrison’s actions take place, conformity and equality still rule. In an article in Contemporary American writers, it describes Harrison’s parents after the murder, “They resume their passive, acquiescent lives; having forgotten the entire scene almost as soon as they witnessed it” (2396). This dehumanization is the result of government oppression, as well as the physical punishment that awaits if anyone tries to be rebellious like Harrison Bergeron.

Harrison’s actions of can be described as heroic due to the fact that he attempted to revolutionize the society in a way that benefitted the population as a whole, not just himself. Many other people were angered and confused by the idea of handicaps, and by standing up to the government when all other people were afraid to do so, he acted in a selfless manner, a characteristic of a true hero. An example of another person doubting the intentions of the Handicap General can be seen at the beginning of the story, when George, Harrison’s father, realizes that it is unfair to place the hindrance of a handicap on a ballerina. On page 2, the text states, “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn't be

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 the short story, Harrison is used to showing what happens when you aren’t like the others in other words “average”. Harrison is forced to wear weights, glasses, earphones, rubber nose, and teeth caps that try to handicap him so that he is “average”. “Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a

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.

This is significant because when he removes the handicaps from the “empress” and musicians. “Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask.... The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison stripped them of their handicaps, too. ‘Play your best,’ he told them, ‘ and I’ll make you barons and dukes and earls.” This quote shows that even people who are considered professionals are downgraded to average. The sweet idea of equality has blinded the people from what it means to put hard work into something. Working hard give joy and pride to the person who succeeded. The bitter, sour, hard work leads to the sweet enjoyment of success. If hard work does lead to enjoyment and the government handicap people who have a talent or put hard work into a skill, in order to maintain equality. Therefore, equality has a bitter reality. The musicians are forced to be downgraded as well as the ballerinas. This is taking away from the hard work that would be put in normally. Every one being at the same level, same skill, would be aggravating for many people, including myself. Knowing that all the hard work put into something and then being told it is illegal to be better than the

With imperfect eyes, total equality is hard to accomplish, especially with the notion of judgment and competition constantly tempting otherwise. However, the high hope of peace and utopia in fulfillment has always been a human thrive. Throughout history many men have attempted such perfection. Karl Marx inquired the structure of communism through the Manifesto to ensure equality to a large socially grouped people. According to Vonnegut, so did the U.S. government, in the year 2081. In the outrageous short story of "Harrison Bergeron", many historic achievements and ideas, like the Manifesto, can closely parallel with that of the future outlook described by Vonnegut. Vonnegut shows the ridiculousness of the outcome of this, at the time,

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.

In “Harrison Bergeron” Harrison shows us that standing up for something you believe in can end up negatively, which is evident in the way the handicappers general shot Harrison and the ballerina and she was very strict about keeping the handicapped on, and also killing both rebels the dancer and him. For example in the text it states “Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor. Diana Moon Glampers loaded the gun again. She aimed it at the musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps back on” This makes me realize that standing up for what you believe in could end in a negative result, even

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.

The way you look at things is a very important thing for people to understand because it has the power to change so many things. In the story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, the 14-year-old boy Harrison is made out to appear as a complete threat/danger to his former society when he is actually the complete opposite; a hero. Harrison is smart, strong, and attractive, the citizens are terrified to live in a world without equality.