Harrison Bergeron

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves,” said Henry David Thoreau. Disobedience is said to either promote social progress, the foundation of liberty and how citizens live, or it is said to create chaos. It is strongly believed disobedience is used to change how society works, and it can turn people who are against a cause to supporting the same cause. From disobedience, social freedom can be created or improved. Although disobedience can lead to trouble, it can also be used to increase social standings, get people on your side, or to prove a point.
Using disobedience to gain social standing, how individuals are able to live their lives without worrying about their freedom being taken, is superior to any other method of doing so.

It can place citizens toward what they want in society. To create change, there needs to be a social standing, and it is obtained through disobedience. In Ender’s Game, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, a scrawny boy who grew up to be very smart and found himself in the Battle School, was told not to fire a single bullet while serving in the Salamander Army. “Before anyone knew what was happening, he [Ender] froze three of the soldiers...others spotted him and fired...they hit only his already-frozen legs. It gave him time to get the last two men at the gate. Leopard had only four men left the unfrozen...the game was a draw”(Card 129-130). This quote from Ender’s Game reveals that even amateurs can rise through the power of disobedience. Ender could’ve watched as his team lost, but he disobeyed his orders and shot five of the nine soldiers left in Leopard Army and letting the game result in a draw like a Pyrrhic victory. In addition to avoiding a loss, Ender was also placed on the top of the Leaderboards making people want to follow him for being the best. He also became a target by others, but that did not stop him from creating his social standing through disobedience. People will always want to follow the superior or supreme choice there is. Individuals would rather follow a leader who can lead them to victory rather than defeat or even a draw. In the end, Ender became a leader, and many other children started to realize that he was actually a superior leader compared to the others and started to follow his orders all because of how he disobeyed.
Using disobedience to persuade people to join a side in political views, business partnerships, etcetera can be an advantage.

People who want their voices heard that can’t speak it normally will disobey in order to have their voices heard. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Harrison is an “abnormal” person, and he is crossing the Rubicon by “plotting to overthrow the government” (Vonnegut 5). He went to an area with live broadcasting and he “tore off his straps of his handicap harness...handicaps crashed to the floor...thrusts his thumbs under the padlock that secured his head harness...smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.”(Vonnegut 6). He then starts controlling people by making them do as he says. This quote from “Harrison Bergeron” describes how he disobeyed what the norm and law was. He was doing what most would never have done, and through disobedience, he achieved a following like with Martin Luther King Junior. did in the Civil Rights movement. No one wants to follow laws that restrict them from freedom, but once someone disobeys that rule or law, the people start following that person. People start following that person, not because of the person, but to disobey what they desperately

hate.
Using disobedience to prove a point is an effective way of making people believe in a cause. When people have an idea about something, but no one believes them, they will use disobedience to make that idea clear. In the world, people have gone on strike from their job to convey a point, like the Civil Rights movement or Apartheid. Going on strike is a form of disobedience as they refuse to work. If they were to just say “We don’t get paid enough,” then nothing would change, but going on strike would convince people to realize something and start to believe the point they are trying to convey. It could lead to them receiving a raise. For example, five out of the ten largest strikes in America were a success due to disobedience. It is not always a guarantee, but it is still a firm chance people can prove their views using disobedience.
Through the power of disobedience, people can increase their chances of achieving what they want by using it. People can accomplish what they want by disobeying their authorities, but they need to be careful on how they do it. No one wants to disobey in a way that will compromise them into some serious trouble. They need to disobey enough to where the authorities know the people can achieve what they want. Since the reward outweighs the risks, people should man up and start disobeying their authorities, respectfully, so they can achieve what they want!