With the world constantly pushing for equality among people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. Through this foreshadowing of the future, Vonnegut attempts to use Harrison Bergeron as mechanisms to reveal and warn of the dangers in being equal. The Handicapper General, symbolically portrays the idea of fairness in a society. The one in charge of lowering the capacity of a bright and intelligent person to the level of a normality. The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal they were equal in every way.
What would happen to the world if the people were literally equal in every aspect of their lives? In Kurt Vonnegut's short story, "Harrison Bergeron," the world is finally living up to America's first amendment of everyone being created equal. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks, respectively. For others, who do not receive these punishments, the handicaps may seem appropriate; to keep the playing field level.
He knew better than the teaching of the Nazis and he knew in his heart that he had to do everything in his power to fight back. He came up with the idea of coming up with anti-Nazi and anti-war groups. They also made pamphlets and made radio broadcasts, all which were illegal at these times. This is the incident that changed his life forever. He was arrested soon after and his punishment was death.
Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else." Yet this equality is not fair, "all this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution" and "the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General." We take individuality for granted. He gives the reader multiple scenarios of characters and their struggles of being above average and different than all of the "average" people. The first scenario involves a character named George.
English 1B February 23, 2012 Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: Harrison Bergeron The short story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is one of a dystopian society. The story is set in the year 2081 and everyone is equal, because anyone who is better than the average is handicapped, mandatorily, by the government. The handicaps come in the form of weights for people who have greater strength than others or earpieces, that distract those with too sharp of a mind with loud noises, to keep their mind scattered. The setting is of a husband and wife, George and Hazel Bergeron, who are watching a television broadcast of a ballet. Their son, Harrison, was recently taken away for attempting to overthrow the government.
Essay on the short story ‘’Harrison Bergeron’’ by Kurt Vonnegut Harrison Bergeron is a short dystopian story written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1961 in which he writes about a future world (set in 2081) in which, due to Amendments 211, 212, and 213 to the Constitution, anyone that has better than average intelligence, physical beauty, or athletic ability is handicapped to create an artificial equality. In order to achieve this equality people who are above average looking must wear masks - the more beautiful they are, the more hideous masks they wear. People who can run faster, jump higher, have quicker reflexes, or have stronger muscles are encumbered by weights—different weights for different people are adjusted to make them all equal in physical capabilities. People who are more intelligent than others must wear headphones that generate piercing noises to prevent them from keeping their thoughts together. The plot of the story is that one day, a fourteen-year-old boy, Harrison Bergeron, is taken away from his parents, George and Hazel, by the government and put in prison.
Priestley left school at sixteen and decided to write, mostly about social attitudes and political stances which he was inspired to do by his father’s socialist friends who believed that everybody should have an equal chance in life with fair pay and not have different social classes. He was also involved in the 1st world war and that made him think about the state of society and the way the social system worked, which he thought was wrong. Priestley deliberately set his play in 1912 because the date represented an era when everything was very different from the time he was writing, 1945. Society in 1912 was mainly devised into two social classes which had a big difference. The very rich and the very poor.
He accepts the consequences that came with his arrest by leaving for the prison camp. But his story prompted the Captain to say “We ain’t never had one of them before.” He has not changed himself into becoming a part of what society is expected to be. Emerson says “I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions,” where a large portion of the population likes to follow the expectations and image that other have set up for them. This is essentially what happens to a major part of society which is why expectations and the “norm” have been set up because it’s what everyone is accustomed to. Although without expectations, an idea of a regular society cannot be created leaving many people lost and not knowing what to do.
Harrison Bergeron “Harrison Bergeron” is a science fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1961. Mr. Vonnegut constructs a 2081 America that evolves into a society with a focus on complete equality. The government creates a position called the United States Handicapper General who assigns a handicap to each person decided to have a physical, intellectual, or aesthetic advantage. The main character, Harrison Bergeron, is a 14-year old boy who is saddled with a tremendous pair of loud sound emitting ear phones to offset his genius, hanging scrap metal to neutralize his strength, and a clown nose to diminish his good looks. Penalties like these ultimately lead to a deteriorating quality of life for all.
Who Decides What Is Equal Anyways? What would happen in a world where “full” equality was achieved? Would it be for worse or for better? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s futuristic dystopia, “Harrison Bergeron,” a future society has finally achieved what it has been asking for all along, equality amongst all. They achieve this equality by using handicaps to set everyone to the same level of abilities, such as beauty, strength, and special abilities.