If everyone was made equal how is it fair to others? In the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurk Vonnegut Jr, The year is 2018, people are completely equal, and they are the same in every way possible. There are people in the society being handicapped to be made the same as the other people in the society. The people who aren’t handicapped are the people who have “perfect” intelligence, strength, and beauty, which means that they aren’t that big of a threat. The superiors(intellectual people) are a bigger threat to the society, the so called “perfect” citizens are not a threat because they can’t process their own thoughts very well. The three classifications are handicapped, non-handicapped, and the government in this society. The system that the society used was called handicap, which was used to keep/make everyone the same as anybody …show more content…
There is more at work in the government than just handicaps. “The rest of Harrison’s hollowed hardware. Nobody have ever born heavier handicaps… If you see this boy do not, I repeat, do not approach him” (Vonnegut 3-4). The government doesn’t want Harrison to get loose because he can expose them, show the people the truth. Harrison is under handicapped and incredibly intelligent, he has many capabilities. All in all, the government is in complete control over the society because all of the categories are controlled by the government. The three categories are handicap, non-handicap, and the government. In the story “Harrison Bergeron” the society is built around at his system called handicap, if someone is handicapped it means that they are a big threat to the society. If someone is not handicapped it means that they are a perfect citizen, which means they have perfect intelligence, physique, and appearance. The government is the only group of people who aren’t equal to the others. If everyone is made the same is it really
In “Harrison Bergeron” the handicaps make all of the citizens exactly the same. The handicaps do not let people be who they really are and actually holds back the citizens ability to do things. It seems like the handicaps actually make it worse for the advanced people because it makes them suffer. “They weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been anyway.... George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped.
Have you ever wondered what life would be if everyone was equal? Well in the year 2081, the government made everyone equal with the three new amendments of no one being smarter, better looking, or stronger or quicker than anyone else. These new laws tries to allow everyone to be equal,but it really didn’t. Everyone in “Harrison Bergeron”, is not equal because handicaps don’t take away your abilities, handicaps are not useful, and it is not fair for the people with abilities to wear handicaps. To begin with, the handicaps don’t take away your abilities away
Harrison is smarts enough to notice what the government isn’t doing right. Harrison Bergeron was imprisoned for plotting about going against the idea of an equal society and its government. As a result of Harrison Bergeron being
It is just as unfair if not more unfair to put a handicap on someone who has greater strengths than another. When Harrison Bergeron stood up for individuality, society shut him down. In the real world, society shuts down those who speak out for individuality by shaming them or making them outcasts. Kurt Vonnegut created a universe that put the rules of society before the life of an individual. People were willing to stand and watch another human being be killed for accepting their individuality.
The story, Harrison Bergeron really shows the importance of diversity and for every individual to have a right to be unique. The government trying to make every thing completely fair is actually unfair to people who can 't get any excitement in a world like this. Limiting peoples thinking will also strongly slow any advances in technology, maybe even to a stop, so they might never solve some of the very important problems they face. Same with strength, if someones is in danger to an animal or a malfunctioning machine they will need to be able to escape. So really a world thats completely fair is impossible to create.
Equality would be making everyone a 5/10 in looks, smarts, and so on, but he government makes everyone a 1/10. They’d make the smart people a bit stupider and the not so smart people smarter. People would get some handicaps to be less beautiful but others would get some to make them look better. The government would have too big of a hassle to make everyone equal so they just make the smart people worse. A big question is, does the government have handicaps too?
Vonnegut: Harrison Bergeron symbolizes the hope and spark for individuality in a place where everyone is equal, he does not have the cowardness and the obedience like the others, he stands out strong smart and great looking, and a person who is hungry for power and drives to be the emperor, which is stated when he stood at the center of the studio and cries out “I am the Emperor!”. Harrison might sound power-mad but n his perspective it is very understandable why he felt that way in that kind of environment even though his boastfulness is exaggerated it is an expression of his defiance to outstand how Americans felt. When Harrison forcefully took off his handicaps it is to show the viewers also restraint that they also are of something more capable. However, in the end due to Harrison’s defiance, he gets shot by the government and suggests anyone who does the same actions as Harrison’s is outnumbered by the government.
Government Control Everyone has felt smarter or maybe not so smart, due to others intelligence once in their lifetime. In a world full of different people this can happen often. However, what if there were a world where everyone was equal? No person was smarter than the other, and everyone had the same level of intelligence. In the movie, Harrison Bergeron, he is a very gifted boy who is against a “government” that makes the entire society equal by handicapping the more gifted, down to the level of the less fortunate or incapable.(Bruce “Harrison”)
In “Harrison Bergeron”, each person was not truly equal. For example, the ballerinas in the story were prettier than the maximum people, so they were required to wear masks. Hazel, the mother of Harrison, believed that the ballerinas were beautiful since her mask was extremely ugly. Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicap General, forces them to be like the public and will punish anyone who says different. Consequently a few people enjoy being the same, it is not easy, and following the Handicap General’s rules is challenging.
He believes that everyone can become so much more than what his/her handicap allows. The external conflict is between Harrison Bergeron and the government. Harrison
The people of the United States fight and strive for an absolute “equal” society, but is it what’s really wanted? “Harrison Bergeron,” a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut, uses satire to describe the deficiency in our idea of a truly “equal” society. Throughout the story, Vonnegut describes the torture and discomfort the government administers among the people, and though they were “equal,” they were not balanced. Vonnegut uses characterization and word choice to warn his readers of the potential drawbacks of a truly “equal” society. He warns normalcy would become the base of thought, and people would become incapable of emotion.
In this short story, everything has to do with equality. No one can be more intelligent, stronger, or more attractive. Handicaps are making people unequal. People in this short story isn’t equal because the most intelligent people have to suffer because of the handicaps. “Every twenty minutes or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantages of their brain” (page 2).
In addition this story a character name harrison bergeron who was in a jail because he tried to take off his handicap and he also tried to plot to overthrow the government. Another character named george also had to wear a handicap and every twenty seconds a transmitter would send a sharp noise to keep him from using unfair advantage of his brain. The theme of the story is being equal isn’t always fair. Body paragraph 1: These 3 paragraph will explain the theme that being equal isn 't always fair. The first piece of evidence
The community throws all of the stress and pain on him, so the impact of all of it causes him to rebel. “‘I am the emperor’….. Harrison tore the straps of his handicaps off” (“Harrison Bergeron” 4). Unfortunately, the so called equal community tears Harrison apart, but he does all he can to show everyone what is actually happening around them, a true act of
The story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is about a couple, Hazel and George Bergeron, in the distant future when all people must be equal. This equality is reached in the form of handicaps. Weights are placed on the strong and athletic people in society, masks are forced upon the beautiful, and loud noises are constantly blasted into the ears of the intelligent to prevent them from thinking. While most equality is often thought of as good, the story shows a much darker side, using the government’s forceful equalization of the people. “Harrison Bergeron” uses multiple perspectives to highlight the costs of equality paralleled in today’s society.