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Literary Analysis Of Harrison Bergeron And The Interlopers

Decent Essays

Literature is always comparable and contrastable in the views of the reader. Stories can compared through different literary elements, such as the Marxist Theory, which is the class struggles, and through symbolism. Harrison Bergeron and The Interlopers are two stories that can be both compared and contrasted through these two literary elements. Therefore, Harrison Bergeron and The Interlopers can be compared and contrasted through Marxist Theory and symbolism, because both contain different aspects of the theory, and both stories depict symbols that affect the overall story differently. The two short stories contain elements of the Marxist Theory to build up the central conflict. In Harrison Bergeron, equality is forced amongst the citizens. To enforce such, governmental officials placed handicaps on people, causing people like Harrison to look like a “walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds” (pg. 36). Because of his stature, the government placed handicaps all over his body. In this sense, the government was oppressing Harrison’s athletic skills and character with the handicaps. Though there was no capital involved in this story, the government resembles the bourgeois and upper-class who oppressed the handicapped citizens, or proletarians. This overall conflict with the country, as well with Harrison, is a class struggle. Through the lens of the Marxist theory, The Interlopers also contained many aspects of the class struggle, as

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