Analysis Of Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut Jr

Many times in dystopian literature, characters are faced with problems to do with their governments, but are forced to live with it or stand up to it. In, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, the curious Jonas lives in a community where everything is the same and there is no change, but when he turns 12 he becomes the receiver of memory, a job where he learns about the real world. After learning the truth, he escapes the confines of his community bringing Gabriel, a young child, with him. On the hand, In Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., people are given handicaps to maintain the same intelligence level. For example, the main character, Harrison is a genius who escapes his handicaps and and makes the citizens happy by having fun with them and teaching

If they were both left without their abilities, some of the feats they accomplished would have been absolutely impossible. For instance, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. writes, “Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps”(3). And, “ He is a genius and an athlete...”(3). Consequently, it shows how powerful Harrison is and gives the readers an idea about the potential he has. It also shows that if Harrison wasn’t so smart and powerful he probably wouldn’t have been able to escape his giant handicaps. This skillset allows Harrison to stand up to the government. A special skill set can also be found in Jonas from The Giver. In particular, the author says, “... whirling torrent of crystals in the air around him… he opened his ordinary eyes and saw that he was still on the bed.” (Lowry 81). To explain, this shows Jonas’ ability to receive memories, and in this case he received the memories of snow and sled where he basically felt and visualized being there even though he was only on a bed. This ability later gave him strength and warmth which he needed to escape the community. Also, without this ability, Jonas never would’ve learned the truth about the community. He needed this special skill to stand up to the government because it allowed him to learn to truth and it allowed him to endure the poor conditions he went through to escape the community and bring the memories back to the people. To conclude, both of these characters utilize their skills to their fullest extent and are able to make some kind of a stand against the government that ends up making a difference for the people in their