Harrison Bergeron Essay

Imagine a world where everybody is equal. No one is smarter than other people, none is stronger than other people and no one looks better than anybody else. That’s what the book Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is like. It is based in the year 2081 in the United States of America. The main characters in the book, George and Hazel Bergeron had a kid and they named him Harrison. The government took Harrison to jail when he was fourteen because they thought he was planning to overthrow the government. One day George and Hazel were watching tv and they interrupted and said that Harrison Bergeron had broken out of jail. He arrived at the performance that was on tv and was shot and killed by the handicapper general on live tv and his parents

saw him die, then George's earbud made a loud sound and he forgot he son was just killed. There are many themes in this story but the one that stands out the most is, society will not operate correctly if everyone is equal. This is a significant topic because being different is a good thing and if everybody thought the same way society and the world would not be advanced as it is right now. Society is at the point it is because the different way people think and the way people do other things.

Throughout the entire story, it shows that the people did not have any differences and they did not have any different ideas besides the fact that differences were a bad thing. A society that where everyone is equal in every way is a society that does not like competition or differences and will not be very advanced. The people in the short story are against people being different and do not want the competition of people being smarter or stronger or look better. "If I tried to get away with it," said George, "then other people would get away with it and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn't like that, would you?" "I'd hate it," said Hazel. The people in the short story are against people being different and do not want the competition of people being smarter or stronger or look better. Everybody's differences are what makes society work and get to the point where it is today. If people did not think differently or look different or were faster or stronger society would not be at the point it is now. Some people might say that the characters in the short story were just saying that they did not want competition like there was because the government was controlling the way they think and act. I believe that the government was not changing the way they think or act t was just changing the way people look, how smart they are and how strong they are not how they think.

In the beginning and the middle of the story, the characters believe that they should be equal it is a good thing to be equal.

But I believe that the theme is that people differences are a good thing and they make society work right. That dance-it was nice," said Hazel. "Yap," said George. He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They weren't really very good-no better than anybody else would have been. This shows that the people in the short story like that there is no competition and that everybody is equal. However, I believe that if everyone is equal there is no competition. If everyone in society is equal in every way and people do not have different ideas. Therefore Society will not work correctly and not be advanced because people do not have different ideas. "Well-maybe makes 'em real loud," said Hazel. "I think I'd make a good Handicapper General." "Good as anybody else," said George. This shows that the people the story believe that everybody would be just as good as other people with the same job, but that is not true. If everybody in society is equal they would all have a job that maybe they would not like or a job that they are not very good at. If society was not equal people would choose a job that they like and that they are good at so the people who work at that job do a good job and help society work or grow and become stronger. Some people might say that they might believe that they would be good at every job. If everybody being equally as good as the other in the same job means that society and the government will not work correctly, then the society in the short story is not working correctly because people do not get to use the skill sets they are good at in a job because they all have the same skill sets and are

equal.

In the end of the short story, the characters believe that they should be equal and it is a good thing to be equal. But I believe that the theme is that people differences are a good thing and they make society work right. “The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison stripped them of their handicaps, too. "Play your best," he told them, "and I'll make you barons and dukes and earls." The music began. It was normal at first-cheap, silly, false. But Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like batons as he sang the music as he wanted it played. He slammed them back into their chairs. The music began again and was much improved.” This shows that the musicians were afraid of playing their best because everybody was equal and they did not want to get in trouble for taking advantage of their skills. Another way this supports my claim is because they were scared because someone in their country was not equal like they are so they probably thought that Harrison Bergeron was going to attack them to help prove to the government that everybody should not be equal and that they should stand up against the government. “Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last, of all, he removed her mask. She was blindingly beautiful”. This shows that they do not want people looking the same because it might give people an advantage at certain jobs like actors or models or people who do commercials on television. The government doesn't want people to have different skill sets but they are stopping people from doing jobs that they could possibly be really good at. Some people might say that they are afraid of being different because it is the way that they live and grew up and they have been told that being different is a bad thing. But I believe that they want to be equal but people should actually want to be different, not equal.

In the end, one can hope that society will never end up like it does in the book Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. In the book, the society does not operate correctly because everyone is equal in every way. If you are smart you were an earbud that makes loud noises, if you are stronger you wear a sack full of weights, and if you are better looking you need to wear a mask. Everyone in the short story believes that being equal is a good thing and they do not want competition between people. There is a lot of themes in the story but the one that stands out the most is that society will not operate correctly if everyone is equal. This is a significant theme because if everybody is equal and they all have the same ideas and skills sets and no one is better than the other. So we can hope that society we live in never ends up like it does in this short story.