Harrison Bergeron : Symbolize Equality In Society In Harrison Bergeron

In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut the author portrays a society where people are controlled by a sole governing source that handicaps it’s people so that no one is better than anyone and everyone is equal. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal... They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else” (299). When George, the main character sees his son get shot on live television, his reaction is less than expected.

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if everyone was legally forced into the governments opinion of equality? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron", it is the year 2081 and the government has altered society to be mentally, physically and socially equal. The beautiful people are covered with hideous masks, the intelligent people wear ear pieces that let off loud obnoxious sounds at random to throw off there thought process and the strong people wear weights to be equal to the weaker people. The society is not equal because no one can truly be changed unless they want to be. Putting a handicap on an intelligent person does not make him or her equal to an average person,

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine even brighter. Vonnegut uses satire to explore the question of whether true equality can ever really exist.

Imagine having a handicap everywhere you go and having a friend who doesn’t have a handicap, because they’re less skilled. Does this make it seem equal?  Well, it seem like the story “Harrison Bergeron” will answer that, depending on what you think is equal.  In this case, I find that everyone was not truly equal in “Harrison Bergeron.”

Others might say that people like Harrison Bergeron are also treated like him, I say that some people that are above average is treated differently. I say this by how George, in the story, was wearing a handicap too but he was not considered a criminal and disrespected by other citizens. Therefore, everyone in the story was not equal to each other, by how they were treated differently.

Kurt Vonnegut’s unique story “Harrison Bergeron,” displays a theme which is a warning about the dangers of equality, which is equality is a hindrance to an individual’s success and society’s success, but this hindrance is ironically, unequal. In the story, Harrison and his bride are arrested for their unwillingness and inability to stay within the bounds of equality enforced by the Handicapper General. Equality hinders the success of an individual like the weights hinder the beauty and grace of the ballerinas in the story. Equality doesn’t promote everyone to be equally better, but to be unequally worse. Handicaps are no use in ensuring equality, because one’s strengths will always shine through, such as Harrison’s strength and wit, or the

Harrison Bergeron is a story written by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s story is a warning to the world about the quest of equality, which is spreading all round in many nations with America on the lead. The story shows the reader how the equality issue can have negative impacts on people’s individuality, and the society. The story revolves around the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron who is an archetypical symbol that represents defiance, and individuality. He is used to represent the people who will stand up, and protest against cruel laws imposed by the state on equality, and encourage others to protest with him. Through the characterization of Harrison, George and Hazel, Vonnegut shows how the equality idea can go to the extreme. The

Have you ever been told you can’t do something because you are too qualified? In Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” this is what America has turned into in 2081. Vonnegut uses characters in his story to show the effects of a truly “equal” society with what happens when they want everyone equal and what happens to some of their health. Some of the characters he uses are Harrison, George, and the ballerinas.

To achieve equality, the government denies it’s citizens their freedom and expression while torturing them in the process. The intelligent, strong, and beautiful are forced to hinder their attributes by wearing handicaps. Since George is considered one of the bright, he is required to wear a 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 unfair advantage of their brains” (Vonnegut 1). Meanwhile, the athletic and attractive are paying for having an upper hand as well: “They were burdened with sash weights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, … something the cat drug in” (Vonnegut 1). Having an advantage is the opposite because the government realizes it is more attainable to

Another reason why this is not a utopian, or equal, society is because the Handicapper General is higher than the other citizens and in a completely equal/utopian society, everyone would be on the same level of importance. The text shows this in the first paragraph when it says, “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.” As indicated in the first paragraph, all of this attempted equality is because of the Handicapper General and her agents. Therefore, in the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, the result of trying to make the society a utopia is, the society is now more of a dystopia because the government, or the Handicapper General, is not letting people do the best they can or use their talents to their fullest potential. Also, if this was a completely equal society, the Handicapper General would not be above all the other

One characteristic of the human spirit it the idea of equality. Humans strive for equality through every aspect of life. In “Harrison Bergeron” the author takes the idea of equality, and takes it one step further. Everyone has handicaps so they are all of the same status. For example, George Bergeron has a mental handicap. “Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantages of their brain.” (par. 3) This shows that the people of this society believe that solely being smart is unequal to those who are not as academically strong. This quotations is just one example of the handicaps that were used in “Harrison Bergeron”. One more instance of equality is how far the authority in the story will go to achieve this equality. At the end of the story, the ones who disobeyed were

The desire to be different in a world full of people trying to be equal, is a challenge most people have encountered. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut, the main character, or the character which the story is based upon, lives in a futuristic society, which the government has tried to make equal. Harrison is forbidden to use his above average intelligence and physic to stand out, or to become anything more than equal to the average person. The reader becomes aware that Harrison has been imprisoned due to rebellion against the government, which controls his every move or action. Harrison escapes from prison, breaks rules, and is ultimately killed for his actions. Harrison’s character development and desire to be different

Imagine a place where there are no decisions to make throughout the day. In this place, everyone’s career gets chosen for them, and their hopes, dreams, and aspirations are given to them. There are none of those difficult life decisions to make because they will be made for everybody. Now despite all these seemingly terrible things, we do get something great from all the sacrifices: equality. In this world everyone is equal; no one person smarter, more athletic, more talented, or better than any other. Everyone in this place completely equal, and all thanks to the government, the authorities, the higher-ups, “the man,” or whatever these enforcers’ wish to be called. The world of Harrison Bergeron functions like this. Now while it may seem

The story “Harrison Bergeron” is about a society in the future where people with beauty, strength, or intelligence are given handicaps in order to decrease these abilities they were born with so they are able to be brought down to a level that would make everyone equal to each other. Due to this, one Harrison Bergeron stood against the government by removing his handicaps as to regain his freedom from them, all while being watched on television by George and Hazel Bergeron. The book “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is a story that teaches readers that you should never let anyone take away your freedom from you.

The satirical work, Harrison Bergeron, is a work of science of fiction that takes place 120 years into the future, when Constitutional Amendments have made everyone equal, not just before the law but equal in all manner of ways. It is because of the enforcement of the amendments by the United States Handicapper General that no one person is smarter, stronger, swifter, or more beautiful than anyone else. The agents of the Handicapper General (H-G men, an allusion to the term G-men, given during the 1940s and 1950s to Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service officers) enforce the equality laws. The thinking of smart people for example is regularly interrupted with dreadful noises going off in their heads. Beautiful and graceful ballerinas