Imagery In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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There are times in life that people let society influence most of their life choices. How to dress, how to act, what to like, who to follow. Harrison Bergeron shows how it is not a good thing to try and be the same as other people and be controlled by an outside force like society or the government. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s story “Harrison Bergeron” tells a story through a marxist lens of a society that has been set equal in every way but one of their convicts who is a unique specimen escapes prison and uses his few minutes on television to shine hope hidden in the people’s fears and to do a performance that ends tragically. Vonnegut did not just write the story for everyone, there was an intended target for sure. This story is perfect for fans …show more content…

One part of the story that shows an example of both context and imagery happening at once is when the news of Harrison Bergeron’s prison escape is on TV and his image is being shown in an attempt to warn people.“Screams and barking cries of consternation came from the television set. The photograph of Harrison Bergeron on the screen jumped again and again, as though dancing to the tune of an earthquake” (Vonnegut para 49). That quote proves that Vonnegut focuses on imagery and context because it attracts to the readers senses by using the words screams and barking cries, and it uses imagery because the reader can imagine the photograph on the TV screen bouncing around. Vonnegut really emphasises his use of context and imagery that it helps make an image inside the mind of his …show more content…

Vonnegut establishes the humorous tone by using gallows humor, which is grim and ironic humor. In one part of the text, George Bergeron and Hazel Bergeron are talking about George’s handicaps and what Hazel would do if she was handicapper general. “Well maybe make ‘em real loud, I think I’d make a good Handicapper General. (Vonnegut para 18) “Good as anybody else” (Vonnegut para 19). The gallow humor in that is that George is saying Hazel would be equally as dumb and would do just a bad job as Diana Moon Glampers. So Vonnegut establishes a serious but sometimes humorous tone within the

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