Kurt Vonnegut’s story, Harrison Bergeron, gives a glimpse of the future in our nation as a dystopia. George and Hazel Bergeron live in a society that has reached “total equality.” The government has total control and has placed handicaps on people who would otherwise be above average. Harrison Bergeron, an oppressed genius, wants to change the current conditions of the country because he sees that they are not “truly” equal. Vonnegut reveals the downsides of having a truly equal society and displays the effects that word choice can have on an audience’s perception of a story. Vonnegut’s use of word choice and character development furthers and gives the audience a better grasp of the story. Through his dramatic word choice and characterization skills, Vonnegut successfully warned the audience of the drawbacks that come with a truly equal society. Vonnegut’s writing amplifies the effects that the plot has on the audience. In a society where …show more content…
handicaps are used to make everyone “equal,” his word choice furthers the character development and makes each one unique.
Vonnegut conveys these traits, “Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear... Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” By using words like “average” and “above normal,” the author shows a comparison between the two characters and the impact that a fully equal society can have on two unlike people. “It was such a doozy that George was white and trembling, and tears stood on the rims of his red eyes. Two of the eight ballerinas had collapsed to the studio floor, were holding their temples,” in this, Vonnegut shows the downsides of a truly equal society by the actions of several oppressed characters: George and the
ballerinas. A truly equal society poses pain and sacrifice for many, and Vonnegut demonstrates this through words like “white and trembling” and “collapsed to the studio floor,” while some are completely unaffected by the handicaps. Vonnegut indicates the hardships of the people with more handicaps than others, “Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds.” Extreme handicaps for some people are more unfair than equal. Harrison’s handicaps didn’t provide a hindrance, but only made him stronger of a person. Overall, Vonnegut’s word choice conveyed his point to mock those who really want a truly equal society.
“There was tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for a moment what they were about” (Vonnegut, 216), Hazel’s cheeks were wet with tears but because she was distracted by the ballerinas. She forgot why she was crying. The use of televisions was a means of terrorizing the citizens when Diana Moon Glampers shoots Harrison because he disobeyed the law. The killing of Harrison and his empress depicts a view of what happens to anyone who disobeys the law. Harrison brought strength and beauty by removing his and the empress weight and masks where as his parents are so compromised that they could hardly put two logical sentences together. The unflinching language used by Vonnegut to narrate the murder of the emperor and his empress mirrors the cold and inhuman nature of the dead. Electronic devices was also used to deprive people of their memories and stop them from making use their brains for thinking. “He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-one-gun salute in his head stopped that” (Vonnegut, 217). This electronic device stops anyone from using his or her brain with the sound of an automobile collision. The use of technology deprives individual from using their full potentials and thus creating a wall between them and their
Wood, Karen and Charles. “The Vonnegut Effect: Science Fiction and Beyond.” The Vonnegut Statement. Vol. 5. 1937. 133-57. The GaleGroup. Web. 10 March. 2014.
Vonnegut powers uniformity on America in the regions of excellence, quality, and insight. He makes a world in which lovely individuals wear veils to cover their countenances and solid
Imagine a society where not a single person competes with another. It has been like this for years, yet nothing has changed since the start of this new world. No new technology, no new occupations, no new discoveries. Absolutely nothing is different. Without competition no one will push themselves to be better or to achieve any goals, and without new achievements society cannot survive, let alone thrive. The short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. discusses this topic. Set in a society where anyone above average in any way is handicapped, therefore everyone is completely and totally equal. One handicapped man, George’s, son is taken away by the government at the mere age of fourteen under suspicion of rebellious intentions. Another
Being unique is a necessary part of life. People are told starting as children that they need to be themselves. They are told to do what they love and love what they do. What if the world didn’t allow this? Kurt Vonnegut ponders the idea of a life in which the government enforces complete equality. “Harrison Bergeron” takes place in a future society that hinders people with skills to make everyone equal. This society makes everyone worse instead of better. Complete equality has too many issues for it to be viable. Equality should be for all in the eyes of the law. However, complete equality should not be pursued because taking away the differences between people is a clear mistake.
Vonnegut and Jackson, through the use of well written short stories, have managed to address concerning issues in today’s societies. Through the use of Harrison Bergeron Kurt Vonnegut was able to address the growing issue of equality, this is a very important issue as many people in modern societies view the idea of equality to be incredible. Shirley Jackson through The Lottery addressed the concerning issue of societies blindly following religions and traditions due to superstitions and the unwillingness to change. These dystopian texts demonstrate the inevitable outcome these problems will eventually cause.
Harrison Bergeron’s mother, Hazel Bergeron, is the definition of the Handicapper General’s “normal” and model for enforced equality. Everyone must be leveled and thereby oppressed to her standards. Hazel’s husband, George Bergeron, is no exception. “‘I’d think it would be real interesting, hearing all the different sounds,’ said Hazel, a little envious. ‘All the things they think up.’” (Vonnegut 910). George suffers from his own comically ludicrous mental handicap. The fact that this incites jealousy in Hazel reaffirms the artificial equality Vonnegut ridicules. The author satirizes oppression in American society through his depictions of misery and restraint exhibited in his characters’ ordeals. “The different times that George is interrupted from thinking, and his inner monologue is cut, we have a sort of stopping his having dialogue with himself. So he can’t have a unique personality, which itself involves his worldviews” (Joodaki 71). Not being able to know oneself epitomizes
As the sweltering, hot sun signified the start of a scorching afternoon, a young boy lay in the fields harvesting vegetables for another family. He had been enslaved to perform chores around the house for the family, and was only given very few privileges. While his stomach throbbed with pangs of hunger, he continued cooking meals for them. After the family indulged in the cozy heat from the fireplace, he was the one to clean the ashes. Despite his whole body feeling sore from all the rigorous work he completed, the young boy had been left alone to suffer. As months passed by, he desired independence. He wanted to cook his own food, make his own fire, harvest his own plants and earn money. The lad soon discovered that he needed faith and courage to break away from his restricted environment. When put in a suppressive situation, every person has the aspiration to escape the injustice. This is what Harrison Bergeron and Sanger Rainsford do to liberate themselves from the external forces that govern their lives. Harrison, the main character of “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a strong, fourteen year old boy whose talents have been concealed by the government. Growing up in an environment where equality has restricted people’s thinking, Harrison endeavors to change society’s views. Rainsford, the main character of “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell, is a skilled hunter who believes that animals were made to be hunted; he has no sympathy for them. Stranded on island with a killer chasing him, he learns to make rational choices. While both Harrison and Ranisford are courageous characters, Rainsford’s prudence enables him to overpower his enemy, whereas Harrison’s impulsive nature results in him being ...
Kurt Vonnegut wrote novels and short stories with a darker tone. Vonnegut was a prisoner of war during World War II. He witnessed the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, which according to him changed his life forever. While a prisoner, he spent a few years working for Nazis in an old meat house where animals were slaughtered. That is where the basis of his novel Slaughterhouse Five came from. Due to the horrible things he took part in during World War II, many of his novels are related to wrong-doings or dysfunctional societies (Smith par 8-9). His short story “Harrison Bergeron” is about a society in the future who is more than controlled by the government. The government wants to make everyone equal and attempts to do so through changing a person’s intelligence level and other minor qualities such as strength or social class. What was interesting was that fact that rather than making the weak stronger, the stronger were made weak. It is clear this is a satirical piece of literature for the reason that when reading this, it is obvious the future was embellished and it was not going to be how the story portrayed it.
Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopian fiction, or a type of fiction in which the society’s attempt to create a perfect world goes very wrong, “Harrison Bergeron” was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1961. This story is about Harrison Bergeron, who is forced to diminish his abilities because they are more enhanced than everyone else’s. This short story is an allusion of a perfect society and it is maintained through totalitarian. The author expresses his theme of the dysfunctional government of utopia through his effective use of simile, irony, and symbolism. Kurt Vonnegut was one of the most influential American writers and novelists, and his writings have left a deep influence on the American Literature of the 20th century. Vonnegut is also famous for his humanist beliefs and was the honoree of the American Humanist Association. “Harrison Bergeron” is about a fictional time in the future where everyone is forced to wear handicapping devices to ensure that everyone is equal. So can true equality ever be achieved through strict governmental control?
Never would I thought that we have a dystopian-like society in our world. Don’t know what a dystopia is? It is a society set in the future, typically portrayed in movies and books in, which everything is unpleasant. The novel Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut is a dystopian story of a fourteen-year-old boy named Harrison who grows up in a society that limits people’s individuality. When he is taken away from his parents, because of his strong idiosyncrasy, his parents do not even recall his presence because of the “mental handicaps” that the government forces onto them. Harrison eventually escapes from his imprisonment and tries to show others that they can get rid of the handicaps and be free. Though the government official, or Handicapper
Just like in Harrison Bergeron, television and/ social media in today’s society has become the fastest way to receive information on what is going in the world. In Harrison Bergeron, the entire society was watching a television program of ballerinas dancing when “it was suddenly interrupted for a news bulletin” (Vonnegut). The announcer, who had a speech impediment, just like every other announcer, handed the bulletin to a ballerina to read. “The ballerina must be extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous, and it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men” (Vonnegut). In this society, the government, named the Handicap General, forces people who are beautiful and strong to wear weights and masks to suppress their talents and beauty to make their uniqueness equal to the “average person.” People are required to wear handicaps in order to get an imperialistic world completely equal; Kurt Vonnegut uses Harrison Bergeron’s character to express an ironic symbolism in the story Harrison Bergeron. He is no ordinary human in this futuristic society, as he is portrayed as “a genius and an athlete… and should be regarded as dangerous…instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap he wore a tremendous pair of earphones…scrap metals hung all over
Farrell, Susan. "'Harrison Bergeron'." Critical Companion to Kurt Vonnegut: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. 9 March 2010. http://www.fofweb.com
In the short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, the author uses absurd details and conversational language to convey the idea that complete equality is unachievable and in the attempt to create it, society would tumble into ruin. Vonnegut gets across a very strong central theme especially through his use of absurd details, such as “a buzzer sounded in George’s head”, and he consistently tells the reader of the noises interrupting George’s thoughts, almost to remind the reader of the handicaps necessary for this “equality” to be possible (21). Conversational language also helps get across this negativity towards equality. Sayings such as “that was a real pretty dance” and “kind of / in honor of religion” show how the so-called average
Imagine a world in which humanity is equal and individuality is oppressed. In this world intelligence and the gifts God gave you are frowned upon. Where the government rules supreme over all who breath. In the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, we get a look into a future in which this could be the downfall of humanity. In the story we see that strong, intelligent, and attractive people have “handicaps” that make them as short sighted as everyone else.