Compare And Contrast Harrison Bergeron

Although the comparisons are well hidden, both today’s society and the story ‘Harrison Bergeron’ share similar qualities. They both deal with equality, which leads to problems and consequences. A second similarity is the struggle of competition and trying to prevent it from occurring, which also leads to problems. Lastly, both struggle with normality, and the fact that it’s hard to accept that different is okay now.

In both Harrison Bergeron and today’s society, people struggle with equality. As shown in Harrison Bergeron the pushing of equality causes consequences. Equality is being pushed onto everyone by having handicaps to make them sure that no one person is better than another. Equality can also cause any type of hurt, both physical and mental. Physical hurt is what occurs with George. George is

hurting and tired of the handicaps that have been given to him. Due to different opinions and some not liking the idea of equality, the rebellion was a result. The ballerina joins Harrison’s attempt at taking control of the world, showing that he’s not the only one who is tired of having equality forced upon them. In today’s society, the pushing of equality is also causing consequences. New laws, such as same-sex marriage laws, is a sign of how equality is being forced on people. People having different opinions tend to lead to hurt and differences cause people to fight about what they believe in. Rebellions, such as riots and boycotts, are a result of different opinions and the dislike of equality.

In both today’s society and Harrison Bergeron’s society, competition is frowned upon and avoided at all costs.

In Harrison, competition is looked at as a major cause of destruction. The handicaps are put in place to try to prevent the Dark Ages again by making sure nobody can compete with each other. The General shoots Harrison as an attempt to stop him from encouraging competition and destroying the system they put in place . Due to the extreme measures the government took, everyone attempts to take away the competition. An example of this is shown when Hazel’s encourages a stuttering news reporter by saying “at least he tried”. In today’s society, signs that competition is a major cause of destruction are beginning to show. One example is that some people believe the wrong person was chosen for president and are trying to prevent him from taking office. Today, people will go to extremes to please themselves. Cheating is a good example, seeing how some people will try to disable others to win. Competition is becoming less important, however. At some sports with younger kids, no trophies are given or, in other instances, they will reward everyone with a

trophy.

Both societies struggle when it comes to normality. In Harrison Bergeron, normality is what everyone strives for. The government took away what made a person special because they believing that everybody should act the same. However, the handicaps and the feeling of always being watched makes it hard to act as is everything’s normal and live a normal life. Lastly, their ways and actions are evolving. The standard for normal is different now in today’s society, with everyone having a different opinion on what should be normal. People tend to push their criticism and bashing on others. In today’s world, people will look at you like you’re crazy or talk about you if you act differently, making it difficult to live a normal life. Although they want it to be their version of normal, normal is different these days because everyone is special in their own way.

Although Harrison Bergeron and today differ in many ways, both share key traits such as equality, competition, and normality. Equality causes a struggle in both setting, prompting consequences. Competition is frowned upon and both settings try to avoid competition in any way possible, whether it’s good or bad. And normality, something that is looked highly upon in Harrison Bergeron, is viewed differently now.