We Are Not Our Own

In “Harrison Bergeron,” mankind has created a different kind of torture for humans they have created handicaps that create loud noise to stop them from thinking too deeply and weights to slow him down and masks to make people uglier. “. . . had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. . . every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking advantage of their brains” (14-17). This technology made life miserable and dull and caused people to become oblivious to problems in their lives The author makes this story to tell his readers that being equal is not necessarily a good thing. The technology of the future is dangerous if treated without care or given to the wrong people. The authors both give warnings about the future and how we must be careful with technology and how being equal is not always good.

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.

The main conflict of the story is between Harrison Bergeron and the government. Harrison disagrees with the government’s way of controlling and handicapping society, especially since he has been given several handicaps. Harrison does not believe one should be limited, however, he 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,

This story suggests that total equality amongst one another is not something worth striving for, suggesting that it implantation is dangerous and will have unintentional outcomes. This is true because in the story in order to achieve equality physically and mentally the citizens were treated inhumanly by the government. The beautiful were forced to hide their beauty under masks, the strong forced to wear hundred pound weights around their necks, and the intellectual suffered unbearable noises making it impossible for them to concentrate. Citizens dumb themselves down and hide their talents fearing government punishment. Equality is achieved in a sense but at the expense of freedom and personal achievement.

“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a story literally exaggerated to its limit by showing, in the near future, what it means to be equal in every way by having people not being able to show any form of intelligence or creativity whatsoever. When Harrison Bergeron breaks the chains of government oppression, he dies for his failed cause. He dies because he chooses not to conform to the rest of his oppressive society. His parents, George and Hazel, who are nothing more than two bodies under the government’s mind control, can do nothing to save their son or seek justice for his death. The story is not only a reflection of the author’s concern with controlling the masses through

Harrison’s actions of can be described as heroic due to the fact that he attempted to revolutionize the society in a way that benefitted the population as a whole, not just himself. Many other people were angered and confused by the idea of handicaps, and by standing up to the government when all other people were afraid to do so, he acted in a selfless manner, a characteristic of a true hero. An example of another person doubting the intentions of the Handicap General can be seen at the beginning of the story, when George, Harrison’s father, realizes that it is unfair to place the hindrance of a handicap on a ballerina. On page 2, the text states, “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn't be

In Harrison’s world, everyone is said to be equal. If someone is better at something than another, the better person will receive a handicap to make him or her worse. One example is a smarter than average person would be given an earpiece transmitter as their handicap. George Bergeron is forced to wear one of these transmitters. “Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains” (page 99). In this society, it is illegal to remove a handicap, because doing so would give you an unfair advantage. After breaking out of captivity, Harrison Bergeron made the mistake of barging into a television station, removing his handicaps, and proclaiming ‘“I am the Emperor!”’ (page 104). He then selected a woman to be his “Empress.” “Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask” (page 104). Harrison and his Empress began to dance and kiss, but the rebellion came to a quick end when “Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor” (page 105). Because of Harrison’s flaw of impulsivity, he made quick, sudden and bad decisions which led his the untimely death and the death of his unfortunate

Harrison Bergeron, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, is not written for the light reader. This story of equality shows deeply of how horrid it would be to be born special, different, smarter, faster, stronger, etc, in a world where you are forced to be equal. Despite the usual connotation of the word equality, Kurt Vonnegut looks at the cost of making everyone be the same. He has shown through his words the torture you must endure in order to make you the same as everyone else, being a radio intending to scatter your thoughts, weights to weigh you down, or even a hideous, grotesque, mask used to hide your charming face. After you’ve lived with these handicaps a man, named Harrison Bergeron, trying to change how things are interrupts your show.

To achieve mental and physical equality, the government use handicaps to torture their citizens. The strong “were burdened

Harrison goes to a dance studio, which was on T.V. There, eight ballerinas danced awkwardly, held down by weights and harnesses. As soon as Harrison arrives, the dancers, broadcasters, and musicians drop to their knees and cowar. However, Harrison has bigger and better plans, He tells the people that he is and emperor, and that he was better than any other government. He ripped off his handicaps, and said that the first woman to rise would be his empress. When a ballerina stood up, he took off her (and the musicians) handicaps and they began to dance

In the short story 2081 Harrison Bergeron is strong and is smart his appearance is appealing and he's a giant. Since the government has become so strict on following the 213 amendments in the year of 2081 nobody is legally allowed to be above the average. The average in the story is considered to be unintelligent and ugly. This point tells us that fourteen year old Harrison Bergeron cannot be able to walk around like anyone else.

To achieve this standard of parity among all, the government, existing in this representation of what our actual future could hold, inflicts agony onto their people. This is demonstrated through the ‘handicaps’ put into place to dumb the intelligent, and weaken the strong, “And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear,” (7) Clearly, the consequence of this desire for equality is disastrous. America is transformed into a nation consisting of brain-dead people and few individuals courageous enough to revolt against government officials who senselessly murder the extraordinary. In this short story, equality is roughly achieved, but at the expensive cost of freedom and

A siren was going off in his head..” This helps to that Handicaps is their blockage from freedom by showing how when George and Hazel are talking that when they talk about how their life may be like if they took off George’s handicaps, but when George tries to think more about it the ringing of his handicap keeps him from thinking about it. This is relevant because it shows how the handicaps are keeping them from also being free. In the end, the author uses symbolism to Harrison breaking free from his handicaps and dancing to be shot down when Kurt Vonnegut writes, “Harrison's scrap-iron handicaps crashed to the floor.

Everyone is made to be completely equal, so those who are smarter, prettier, or more athletic than others are required to wear “handicaps” to ensure they are average and equal to others. The intelligent have to wear earpieces that emit painful noises in their ear to keep them from thinking. The beautiful wear ugly masks to hide their beauty. The athletic people wear heavy weights to prevent them from being agile. Everyone is equal but those who are not are physically and mentally tortured to insure they are equal.