Essay about Uniformity and Deformity in Harrison Bergeron

Fourteen year old Harrison Bergeron is a passionate character that symbolizes equality in society during the year of 2081. Harrison rebels against the government in a way that shows how everyone in “Harrison Bergeron” was not absolutely equal. This community and its citizens has lost its rights after the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution. Everyone was not actually equal in the story since people could not use their own intelligence, express their true beauty, and display their strengths. The citizens were scared of the United States Handicapper General and they do not have the freedom to be themselves.

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.

Author Kurt Vonnegut suggests that total equality is not something worth striving for. To obtain physical and mental equality among all citizens, the government makes beautiful people wear masks, intelligent people listen to noises that block their abilities to think, and graceful and strong people wear weights around their necks at all times. While equality may be achieved, freedom is the price to pay.

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,

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 story “Harrison Bergeron”, a case is made for conformity to believe that everyone is equal. For example in the story George states, “They weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway” (Vonnegut 1). This tells the reader he believes no one is better than anyone else. Humans should just conform to the knowing that they are all equal and deserve the same things. In the story, George states, “Then other people’d get away with it- and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody” (Vonnegut 2). The reader can infer that George believes competing and trying to be better than others is not going to get anyone anywhere. It will just cause trouble in a world

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.

Vonnegut successfully makes point, that trying to make a perfect world, where all things are equal, is impossible and will cause trouble. In the 1960’s equal rights were a big goal to achieve. People aiming towards equal rights for blacks, women, and even homosexuals. Vonnegut uses

"If I tried to get away with it, then other people'd get away with it—and soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again…" This statement by George Bergeron sums up Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron" in one line. "Harrison Bergeron" is the story of a futuristic United States in the year 2081, where all individuals are made equal regardless of what their natural born characteristics were. They are made equal both mentally and physically, all to the same measure of intelligence and strength. In "Harrison Bergeron" the society has become apathetic and equally conformed because of the power of the Handicapper General, the forced use of handicaps, and the people within the society who continued to let

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

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.