Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut

The story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt VOnnegut Jr. explores the idea of a perfect society. A life where you are completely oppressed to be like everyone else. A young boy known as Harrison Bergeron seeks to have change in society and for everyone to be free.

The story of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is about a dystopian future of America that forces its citizens to be completely equal. The way that they enforce the rules is by forcing the strong to wear weights and the intelligent to be given mental handicaps. The style of writing Vonnegut uses to portray his story of equality is very subtle. Vonnegut uses diction, imagery, and syntax, to help the reader understand the characters, mood, and visuals.

Beauty is seen as an unfair attribute so it is countered by beautiful people being required to wear ugly masks. This is an example of the satirical nature of the story because it is still obvious to tell who is beautiful and who is not since the more beautiful, the uglier the mask. This is evidenced during the scene where Hazel and George are watching the ballet. In reference to one of the ballerinas, “She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous” Vonnegut wrote this story in the midst of 1961, during the Cold War and at the beginning of the anti-establishment 60s. Knowing the historical significance of this time period offers context. This provides insight into the thought processes and emotions behind creating the story, or what it could be written as a response to. Once analyzed, it is clear to see that it is filled with various social and political critiques of 1960s America. It’s safe to say that he aimed to shed some light

“Harrison Bergeron”by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is a story about a teen that speaks out about the equal but unfair government in a dystopian future. “Harrison Bergeron” encapsulates the importance of celebrating each other’s differences and how equality ruins that. The setting of “Harrison Bergeron” is always in the distant future in a bleak place where mediocrity is admired. Because of the feeling of dullness in the setting, it gives a platform for the government to equalize everyone.The movie’s setting is very 1950s influenced, while the short-story is timelessly bleak.

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.

Having another individual controlling another person thought process could be known as communism. Having rules and restriction labialized people as being equal. Equality is something that society often peruse. Nation want everyone to be equal without know the consequences of equality. Character from Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and Girl by Jamaica Kincaid demonstrate how abusive equality can be. When equality is given with guideline, some individuals may find it difficult to follow through.

Kurt Vonnegut published “Harrison Bergeron” to express his thoughts of what a world with equality might look like. The setting of this takes place in front of a TV to emphasis how much is it looked to for answers. The government wants everyone the same and will go to any means necessary. In the constitution, “all men are created equal” can be found, and this short story explores the ideas of when that sentence is taken too literal. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Vonnegut paints his readers a picture illustrating the dangers of conforming three different individuals, Hazel, George, and Harrison, to the same level of expectation through the power of government control and television.

​In a world where everything surrounding one is so different and so similar in the exact same time… Imagine a society where everything an individual can mentally and physically do is under the power of the government. Self-difference does not exist. In a futuristic setting of the novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ written by Ray Bradbury, and the short story ‘Harrison Bergeron’ written by Kurt Vonnegut are both two very eventful and interesting readings that will keep one’s mind running on about the outlook on futuristic life and the governments strict needs and wants throughout a society. These two stories can be compared and contrasted by the strict outlook on the governments control, demand and want over a society, the close relation the two main characters from both stories portray and the similar theme demonstrating loss of individuality.

In the movie and short story Harrison Bergeron, the characters live in a much different world than the one we live in. In Harrison Bergeron, the American government was overthrown for the purpose of removing competition. This mean everybody gets paid the same, their grades have to be average, but most importantly, they have to wear bands on their heads that protect them from thinking ideas that conflict the government. Despite this, Harrison Bergeron excels in all his classes and begins to question his everyday life. Eventually he learns that the people that work for the government don’t wear bands and are allowed to compete freely. After hearing fascinating music and seeing beautiful art, he realizes that the people living in America are missing competition as an important part of their lives, and he tries to rebel. All of this matters because throughout the story, Harrison seems to be the only person rebelling. The reason for this is because people are only comfortable in their own shell, and never want to leave their comfort-zone if it means their world could change. So my question is this: Why is Harrison the only person with different ideas, and what makes people like Harrison act out?

The 1961 short story by Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron,” details a dystopian future in which the mediocre and average are lionized, and the exceptional in society are marginalized and treated as though they are handicapped and/or criminal. The plot of “Harrison Bergeron” revolves around the plight of its title character, an adolescent boy who is 7’1” tall, extremely good looking, and has a genius-level I.Q., to boot. In the story, Harrison has been placed in jail in order to protect society from his exceptionality. In the society of 2081 America that Vonnegut depicts, the United States government has installed a fascist government that punishes people for falling above the norm in any instance. As the story progresses, the reader learns that Harrison’s mother is actually of below average intelligence, and this has rendered her into an “ideal citizen.” Harrison’s father, on the other hand, possesses above average intelligence and is subject to constant monitoring by the government, so as to ensure that he does not use his superior abilities to act outside of the norm, in any way. Ultimately, “Harrison Bergeron” is a Marxist critique of the late capitalist society of the twentieth century United States, which celebrates the “average” and the “mediocre,” while demonizing innovation.

Vonnegut's story “Harrison Bergeron” discusses the theme equality of results, but through his satirical circumstances there is an ambiguous theme targeting Socialism and Capitalism that shines through.

When you look at it, the perfect society is what Russia was looking to achieve

The subject of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is equality. The theme of this short story is that society should make an effort to value individuality and fairness, in which everyone receives what they need to prosper, instead of universal equality. The forms used to elevate this subject and theme are point of view, syntax, characterization, irony, and humor.

Vonnegut makes use of vivid and sadistic details in order to show readers how restrained society has become by its own government. In this futuristic short story, people are constrained to a certain limit in the United States to keep each and everyone equivalent to one and another. The author uses in-depth details to get people viewing the same very aspects that he is trying to convey his message through, to give them a glimpse of a world stripped of creativity and purged from evolution. As some of the greatest minds of that time are weighed down to the level of normality, Vonnegut shares the story of one extraordinary man that goes by the name of Harrison Bergeron. Who in spite of everything that has taken place, tries to get society moving