Childhood Innocence In Harrison Bergeron And The Road

Childhood Innocence

The idea of childhood innocence is one that could be interpreted in many different ways. Yusef Komunyakaa’s “English”, Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, Peter Tait’s “Too much information destroys childhood innocence”, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road are all pieces that demonstrate how childhood innocence is preserved. In “English”, Komunyakaa describes a boy who sees an airstrike during a war and thinks it is a celebration because no one has ever explained the concept of war to him. “Harrison Bergeron” demonstrates a society that is very conservative about the knowledge they allow its civilians to obtain. Peter Tait’s article on preserving childhood innocence exposes the truths about social media and the easy access kids

have to unfiltered information. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road follows a parent and his son as they continually stumble upon decisions regarding their humanity that highlights the mindset the man wants his child to have in the new apocalyptic world. Collectively, these pieces tie back to the concept of preserving the imagination, curiosity, optimism, and good intentions of young children.
Yusef Komunyakaa’s “English” correlates with the theme of preserving childhood innocence. The narrator, a young boy, writes how the sky was “brighter than a big / celebration” (26-27). Given the time period and the fact that one character’s name is forbidden it can be inferred that the burning stars are most likely air strike rather than a type of celebration. The boy’s reference to how the sky looked like a big celebration alludes to his young age. The child does not understand the concept of war and it was most likely not explained to him in order to preserve his innocence. Because of this, he comes to the conclusion that bright lights in the night sky only occur in the presence of a positive occasion. Children are taught the happy things about life while the cruel and harsh parts are often left out.
However, children are not the only ones who have information withheld from them. Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” is a classic short story with a unique perspective on the government’s ability to selectively give the civilians information. The protagonists, George and Hazel Bergeron, along with the majority of citizens in the society, have the purity of a child in the sense that they will believe anything they are told to do is in their best interest. Hazel refers to the days without equality as the “dark ages” and states that those days were the worst society has ever witnessed. This shows how the characters were basically brainwashed into thinking that any sort of competition is bad and the best way to live is the way that they live now. When Harrison, George and Hazel’s son come on the screen and announce his rebellion against this oppressive government, he is quickly killed by the Handicapper General. The government has a great fear of rebellion as well as a fear of having average civilians think for themselves. This closely resembles the relationship between a child and his or her parent. The parent can censor the knowledge the child is able obtain in the same manner that the government controls the knowledge of the citizens. The citizens have no choice but to believe that what the authorities tell them. Not to mention the similar ways that the parents and the government can control the abilities of the children and the citizens. If the Handicapper General in “Harrison Bergeron” felt that the person was using his or her abilities to his or her advantage, then she has the power to punish them. Parents can also control how the children use their natural talents by allowing their participation in specified extracurricular activities. The story of “Harrison Bergeron” fits nicely with the theme of childhood innocence because of the heavy censorship and the lack of control the citizens present.
Social media and modern technology play a big role in how children are educated in today’s world.

In Peter Tait’s article, “Preserving childhood innocence” he discusses how it influences the way social media has corrupted the innocence of youth. It is very easy to Google search and find anything in the blink of an eye. But, just because the information is readily available does not mean that it is a good idea to take advantage of it all at once. Parents often struggle raising their children in today’s society in which kids have much more exposure to content that is not age appropriate than the past generation had at their age. Today’s generation can be overstimulated by the kind and amount of information at their fingertips as they stumble upon it. Burdens of adult life are being unknowingly placed on kids who have not yet reached, or are just reaching, adolescence. This often leads to long-term negative psychological and social effects on children if they are prematurely exposed. Most information on the Internet is unfiltered which is often why it is often called “overexposed”. Without filtration, anyone can pull up inappropriate or false information without being aware of its inaccuracy. This includes anything from inappropriate pictures to hateful comments to uncensored language. When absorbed by a child who does not know how to self-filter the material, it can destroy the innocence that comes with being young. The kid no longer thinks like a child and is haunted by the

material that cannot be unseen or unread. There is no doubting that social media in this generation has has had a major impact on the innocence, maturity, and education of today’s kids.
The situation that children are in also influences their amount of innocence and the type of mindset they have. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a great example of this. The main character, the man, and his son question the man’s morals as he makes decisions regarding where to scavenge, who to kill, and what to eat. He tends to make more humane decisions since he is not only taking actions that will affect him, but his son as well. The man attempts to preserve the child’s innocence as best as possible, despite what the two stumble upon. The boy frequently refers to him and his father as the “good guys” and the road agents as “bad guys”. This simplistic take on the situation shows the reader just how young the child is and how he is interpreting the events at hand. These comments remind the man of his child’s youth and innocence, which forces him to prove to his son that they truly are the “good guys”. This way of thinking helps the man set limits on the measures he would take to keep them alive. For instance, they see road agents burning children for food and the two decide that they would rather die with their humanity still intact rather than commit cannibalism.
Plenty can be learned from the way a child thinks and the theories they have regarding the world around them. Yusef Komunyakaa, Kurt Vonnegut, Peter Tait, and Cormac Mccarthy are all writers who are able to show many examples of situations regarding childhood innocence in real life. This innocence is that of a fragile mind which needs to be preserved for the sake of optimism in the world.