Harrison Bergeron Essay

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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. The television, through which Vonnegut tells the story, is representative of television’s ability to control and sedate the masses. In the beginning of the story it is seen that everyone is content with the way things are, people being forced to dumb down their natural talents, but when Harrison shows up and tells the people what they are missing out on it is realized that they are content because they never knew how to experience their without restrictions. Harrison is a symbol representing individuality in America, particularly leadership as he says “I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” He doesn’t then tell them to take up arms against the government, but instead he has the band play music. He then takes a ballerina by the hand and asks, “shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance?” Another major theme of this story is that of the dangers of absolute equality. The society is like that of America, and equality is a view shared by all Americans since its founding (to an extent, ie slavery). It is in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.” Vonnegut shows that inequality is what gives the world it’s
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