Human Selflessness In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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Mahatma Gandhi once said, “It 's the action, not the fruit of the action, that 's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there 'll be any fruit. But that doesn 't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”. In other words, Gandhi is stating that change cannot be made if an appropriate action have not commence. For we can’t see change if we don’t make a change in this world. In “The Man Who Planted Trees”, by Jean Giono uses theme and setting, to express human selflessness by appreciating as well repairing the environment. While in “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut uses theme …show more content…

Harrison, a seven-foot-tall, incredibly brilliant young man escapes from an asylum and decides to rebel. He breaks into a television studio, disrupting the musical show by removing his mask and handicaps. “I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison . “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! ... Shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance?”(Vonnegut 3) Harrison and the ballerina which he selected, dance to the most beautiful song and to the end they leaped in the air kissing the ceiling, showing that this is freedom! “Diana Moon Glampers . . . came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” (Vonnegut 4) Without knowing she was still on air, proving that the setting highlighted the moment of change. Therefore initiating the theme that it takes one voice one action and one idea to make a difference in the world. Both stories “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and “The Man Who Planted Trees” by Jean Giono used theme and setting to illustrate the storyline of making a difference. Yet in two completely different ways. Vonnegut story uses dance to display on how art can create a big change in a corrupted society while Giono story consist of hard work and how every little thing can make the environment better. Where everyday he would plant acorns hoping oak trees would fill the empty

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