Major Themes In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. tells the story of a futuristic America where people who are given handicaps if they are better than other people in order to give complete equality to everyone. The main message of “Harrison Bergeron” is that everyone doesn’t have to be the same for them to be happy. In fact, when everyone is equal they are sadder because they don’t know what real life is like, and they are able to be controlled. Harrison and Phillippa demonstrate that being unique brings happiness as they take off their headbands and learn how wonderful life can be when they can express who they are.

In the reading “Harrison Bergeron” the author Kurt Vonnegut Jr demonstrates how the three main characters; George, Hazel and Harrison act in this new futuristic society. We get a small glimpse of what the year 2081 will most likely be made of. This will be ruled by the agents of the United States Handicapper General. The people will be force to be equal in every way; their appearance, their intelligence, their religion, etc. We get to see people who obey the laws as well as people who want to overthrow the government. In this futuristic society, intelligence plays a huge role as well since we witness how people with different levels are treated like George, Hazel and Harrison. The theme of this reading is that forced equality is dangerous

When Bruce Pittman directed Harrison Bergeron in 1995, most things changed from what was originally written by Kurt Vonnegut. In the film adaptation of this short story, the director had more or less the same idea the author had. Vonnegut presents a scary view of human society in the United States of the future, in which American citizens are all uniform. This then leads to their loss of individuality, and as a result, the deformity of humanness. Both the movie and the short story share these themes; they also have a multitude of other similarities, but have just as many differences. The theme might be the same in both, yet in the story, Harrison is portrayed as a seven foot tall, athletic, fourteen year old with a godlike complex, and the

Harrison Bergeron is a valuable story that has underlying themes, which are very relevant in our current society. The theme of equality can be seen throughout the book, and it is the principle that is enshrined in America’s constitution now, whereby they claim that all men are equal. Kurt Vonnegut demonstrates the issue of equality in a Utopian society. Vonnegut in his story, cautions Americans on the dangers of creating a truly equalitarian society, whereby citizens go to an extent of sacrificing their freedom, and individuality to the state, to create a place where all people are equal. Vonnegut creates a society whereby, all people are made equal. The beautiful are forced to wear hideous masks to disfigure their beauty, those considered intelligent are to wear radio calls, and ear splitting noises that are supposed to impede their thinking, and the strong are forced to wear weights around their necks throughout the day. The author uses masks, and the weights as symbols to symbolize

The world Vonnegut paints is a future dystopian society, where “the year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else”.(Vonnegut) With this introduction, readers

There are so many issues in the world today that have come from people’s ideas of what is right and just in society. Yes, inequality is solvable in today's society, there are many individuals, groups and organizations that see the importance of equality among people. In education, government and sports equal rights are improving.

In the story, “Harrison Bergeron”, written by Kurt Vonnegut, we read about a society that is equal. “Harrison Bergeron” is a futuristic story that shows the ill effects of an attempt by the government to make everyone equal or fair. The only way to accomplish this was to penalize or handicap the talented, so the untalented could be equal to them.

Kurt Vonnegut has strong themes of lack of individuality and government control in his stories. In the story Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut uses themes of both individuality and government control to give readers a deeper meaning to his story. In a country where "Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else"(Vonnegut 1) our main character Harrison is above the government mandated level and the government was unable to disable him like his dad who was required by law to wear his handicap ear radio at all time(Vonnegut 3).

Equality, everyone wants to be entitled to the same rights and be seen as the same. This is an idea explored in the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut J.r. . In the story the government puts handicaps on the people to create equality, so nobody is smarter, stronger, or prettier than anybody else. Through this the readers are taught by the author how people should be equal. As well as how violence should never be the answer.

In the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, society has been leveled to everyone being equal to one another. If a person is considered pretty or handsome they are made to wear masks to cover their face; the prettier they are the uglier the mask. If someone is above the average intelligence of others they are made to wear mental handicaps in their ears that blast out noises every so often to scatter the thoughts of the wearer. Also, the people must wear heavy bags on their backs; the more capable and strong the person is the heavier the bag. People in society have always been concerned as to what others look like, and what other people's level of intelligence is compared to theirs. If someone is better looking than another person they are judged or put down. Also, people will say things such as 'I wish we were all the same' or 'it isn't fair that some people are smarter than others'. In Kurt Vonnegut's dystopian world short story the government has found a way to fix the problem of people being better looking or more intelligent than others.

The short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr provides a glimpse into what a bureaucratic dystopia would appear as in the year 2081. It establishes a dystopian society structured by total equality highlighting the dangers in execution and outcome, resulting in a conformist society. All citizens in society are despoiled of idealistic qualities, therefore degenerating them and placing them on an even level. Vonnegut structures this on the premise that,“they weren’t only equal before god and the law. They were equal every which way” (page 1) The result of handicaps enable a sense of unity throughout society. Citizens can not have elevated intelligent thoughts or individualistic ideas about the world surrounding them. The author asserts

The publication date for “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was October 1961, making it a coincidence to the Cold War which took place from 1945-1991. Harrison Bergeron is a story that portrayed competition as evil and equality was the way to go in life. Similar to the Cold war, the USSR was also passionate in being equal. If Harrison Bergeron was a commentary on the Cold War ideological struggle between the USA and the USSR, it would have taken the USSR’s side. Although the story and the USSR have different views of wanting equality (the story wanted more equality in looks, intelligence and strengths, where, the USSR was wanting more equality towards the economy.), it does not change that both have strong beliefs in equality. For example, in the story, people are permitted to wear handicap radios, weights,

Can society truly exist with everyone being equal? For decades, society fought for equality dealing with the issues of race, gender, and religion. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut explores the concept of being equal in every aspect of their life in the futuristic world of 2081. With equality being forced on American society , Vonnegut focuses on how the government create equality by altering beauty, strength, and intelligence. Everyone is mentally, physically, and socially equal. The beautiful, intelligent, and strong individuals are brought down to everyone else standards by forcing them to be a handicap. But are they really equal? Are the laws set for equality or

For this paper assignment I will be discussing the short story of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The short story was published in 1961. I chose this short story out of all our readings because I found the story very interesting. When I was reading Harrison Bergeron, I read straight through it because the story drew me in and in the other readings I would usually take a few breaks as I was reading. In Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut uses humor to explore and exposes several problems that can happen if our current lifestyle gets out of hand. The problems that come up in the story are; how the government can try to control us, the problems of wanting total equality, and how technology can stop our growth as human beings.

The story Harrison Bergeron is about a society where everyone is average and the same. Harrison Bergeron does is not like everyone else, because of this he has ¨handicaps on him¨ so that he is the same as everyone else. This way of being like everyone else helped to understand the reason of why it is important to be you. The short story “Harrison Bergeron,” written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., teaches its readers that you should be able to be you without anyone holding back.