Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

652 Words2 Pages

Ella

Harrison Bergeron
Literary Analysis



Harrison Bergeron a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, is a good example of citizens being perceived to be under constant surveillance through Bureaucratic control. In this society all people must be equal. There is three more amendments to make every person equal. People can’t be smarter, better looking, or stronger and quicker than other citizens. The Government is in control of the society. They created handicaps to control people’s thoughts, actions, and looks so that everyone is equal to each other.

To show that people can’t be smarter than other people with their thoughts. On Page 1 Paragraph 3 Harrison Bergeron the text states: “And George, …show more content…

In Harrison Bergeron it states “And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all
the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men.” (Vonnegut 3). This shows that the ballerinas have to wear heavy handicap bags that keep them from dancing beautifully. ¨Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.
They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun. They leaped like deer on the moon. The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it.¨(Vonnegut 5). This also shows that when talented people don't have their handicaps on that they are capable of amazing things.

The Government is in control of the society. They created handicaps to control people’s thoughts, actions, and looks so that everyone is equal to each other. There are three different reasons people can get Handicaps There is three types of handicaps thoughts, actions and looks. These handicaps are in this society's amendments. These handicaps are rules. The government wants everyone to be equal so they created these handicaps so that people can people can be equal to one another. In Harrison Bergeron people have to be equal. Handicaps are the way the government thinks everyone will be equal, but it’s not the best way. Handicaps actually make people less equal. There’s more inequality with

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