Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

The world is filled with many different types of societies and cultures. This is due to the fact that many people share dissimilar beliefs and ideas, as well as diverse ways of life. People lived under different circumstances and stipulations, therefore forming cultures and societies with ideas they formulated, themselves. These two factors, society and culture, are what motivate people to execute the things that they do. Many times, however, society and culture can cause downgrading effects to an assemblage if ever it is corrupt or prejudiced. Society and culture not only influences the emotions individuals have toward things like age differences, religion, power, and equality but also the actions they perform as a result. People of different

This can cause problems, however. Many people are just born with abilities while others work for them. Equality is never really met because everyone is different. This is what causes deterioration within the people. Others may break from this and revolt. Forcing equality in every way is like forcing no freedom to express ones self. Think of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. for example. The government forced parity within the citizens to ensure that no one was stronger, faster, smarter, or superior to others in any way through the use of devices and weights. “Everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way” (Vonnegut34). Most of the people were clueless and had no idea as to what was happening, except for Harrison Bergeron, who changed everything. The society forced equality and caused one to have anger towards it. As a result, the utopia fell and turned into a dystopia where everything went wrong. A society and its laws can do many things. It can cause good things to happen. It could cause nothing and keep everything the way it was. Different times, the laws of a society can cause one to protest and change the minds of others. That one person could be seduced easily, but occasionally, that one person could be the reason that a society falls. Really, societies’ laws can cause many complications if they do not satisfy

Many times, a society is corrupt, biased, and greedy, so it causes many to have negative feelings towards equality, power, religion, and age differences. In various stories such as Two Old Women, Things Fall Apart, Julius Caesar, and Harrison Bergeron, society and culture have been the main causes of conflict. The characters within them, like the tribe’s people, Nwoye, the conspirators, and Harrison Bergeron went against beliefs and rules that were set for them. They defied it all and did what they felt was right. Some of those times, it was the correct thing to do, going with what they felt was right, but other times, it was a huge mistake. The emotions people have and actions they perform are influenced by the society and culture that they have. In conclusion, people may be influenced by their philosophy and civilization, but they still have the sovereignty to choose whether to protest or abide by