Uniformity In Harrison Bergeron, By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Picture a society, far in the future, where everyone, by government control, must be on the same level. Would this be Hell or a utopia? This is the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron”. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear multiple handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks. In turn, these constraints leave the world equal, or arguably devoid of, from brains to brawn to beauty. With the constant push for equality among all people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. “Harrison Bergeron” is written as a form of satire with heavy irony, to demonstrate the clear difference between equity and equality in society. “Harrison Bergeron” is

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.

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal” (Vonnegut 22). In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story “Harrison Bergeron”, the author depicts a society set in the future where the gifted individuals are handicapped genetically in order to be equal among everyone. Not lifting up the ungifted individuals will prevent conflicts from occurring between the government and its citizens, this is exhibited by the forced conformity and revolting of characters.

Imagine a world where an oppressive government captures what many call diversity. Where ugly is known as beauty and intelligence is insignificant. “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) This is the future that Harrison experiences, in the short story “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut. It is the year 2081 and the government handicaps every citizen with make up or weights to create equality. Where there are over than 200 amendments and the government has full control of all citizens, this is indeed against what America had been

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 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

In the futuristic short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the world is finally living up to America’s first amendment of everyone being created equal. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks. These constraints leave the world equal from brains to strength to beauty. With the world constantly pushing for equality among people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is rapidly working toward. Through this foreshadowing of the future, Vonnegut attempts to use Diana Moon Glampers and Harrison Bergeron as puppets to reveal and warn of the dangers of the two extremes,too equal or too unjust reality there could be ahead of us. If it was possible to do the same, but not by tearing people down, but

In the literary piece “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, we enter a futuristic dystopian society in which all citizens have been forced into equality by a government that rules with corrupt omnipotence. From the very beginning of his hauntingly prophetic tale, Vonnegut lures us in by revealing what our society has devolved into at the hands of the wrong system in power. In the name of equality, the attractive are mutilated, the strong are weakened, and the intelligent are handicapped. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal” (¶1) Vonnegut states in his captivating opening line. Through this dismal tale, Vonnegut reveals that forced and total equality is nothing more than a perilous fallacy. He suggests that complete equality is not as ideal as one might think; in fact, it is more dangerous than we could have ever conceived.

Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliant story, “Harrison Bergeron,” takes place in the year 2081. Thanks to the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments “Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else”(Vonnegut 1). Everyone seems to have equal looks and abilities but to make this happen; they have to limit people so they can be equal to other people. People with natural beauty, gifted intelligence, or high strength have to use handicaps so they can be average like anyone else. They give people mental radios, masks, and sashweights so no one will get jealous. Because of these visible handicaps, people can tell who is stronger, prettier, and smarter. In the story, they describe one of the

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.

In this essay, I will attempt to explore what Kurt Vonnegut illustrated in his short story "Harrison Bergeron"--the fact that uniformity (of any kind) leads to the loss of individuality, and therefore to absolute deformity of humanness.

A short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Harrison Bergeron, is about how everybody has equal rights in 2081. The story goes into future years, where every American citizen has equal right in everything. Which means nobody was smarter, stronger, uglier, quicker, and slower than anybody else. The United States Handicapper General made the laws. The equality was enforced due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution. People who were pretty had to wear a mask to make themselves look ugly, people who were strong had to wear handicap bags, and people who were smart had to wear radios that went off in there head to make them lose their train of thought. This way everyone was equal and no one would feel left out. If anyone who did

In "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" Ursula LeGuin is raising the moral dilemma of justice vs. happiness. The happiness of the citizens in Omelas depends on the suffering of a child locked in a closet. She briefly describes the contrast between the child’s situation and the citizens’ position, portraying a moral dilemma, which is when you have to choose to do one of two equally unpleasant things.

What makes you unique? Your looks? Your opinions? Your wisdom? Now, imagine living in a society where you are not allowed to stand out and you are forced to be like everyone else. The short story Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, displays a society in which people have to adapt their qualities, such as appearance and intelligence, to fit equal standards. The reader experiences a day in the lives of George Bergeron, a man with an above average intelligence, who is forced to lower his mental capacity to the level of average people like his wife, Hazel Bergeron. The laws and standards in this society are created and controlled by an association called The United States Handicapper General. The author’s message in the book is that total equality