Sulaiman Abouanaser Ms.Qureshy ENG3U March 1st, 2023 Compare and Contrast “Harrison Bergeron” and “The Pedestrian” In the world of storytelling and writing, themes play a crucial role in shaping the story. In the short stories "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut and "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury, the themes represent different ideas and values that contribute to the overall message of the stories. Both stories highlight the effects of a technologically advanced society on individuality and authority. Although both stories have different ways of portraying authority, they express individuality and the overreliance on technology differently.
In the passage “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury it appears to be a utopia when the text states, “There was a good crystal frost in the air…” (Bradbury pg 1). When the passage says, “...crime was ebbing…” (Bradbury pg 1) it shows an utopian place because there was little crime, but when the passage says, “... lone car turned a corner quite suddenly and flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him. ’’(Bradbury pg 1), it shows how the attempts to get control is making a dystopia.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron is considered a dystopian literature due to its demonstration of the attributes of a typical dystopian society through the categories Types of Dystopian Controls and The Dystopian Protagonist. Under the category Dystopian Controls more specifically the Bureaucratic control is shown throughout the short story showing a dystopian society. The people in the society follow the orders of the government blindly without any hesitation or resistance. The government says everyone must be equal in every way so that's what the people do like demonstrated by George, “He was required by law to wear it at all time... Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from
Harrison Bergeron Essay Claim: Being equal isn’t always fair. Intro: What if someone had to wear a handicap? Or what if someone had to be treated exactly like everyone else?
Harrison Bergeron was a book written in 1961 that portrayed an abnormal child defying the dystopian government; in 2009 a movie was made, based off of it called 2081 that changed the character both physically and morally. The differences in how Harrison Bergeron, the main character, appears in each story changes how the audience perceives his morality. These changes are easily highlighted in Harrison’s age, dialogue, and appearance. The tone of the story is also changed, resulting in similar changes to what the audience interprets. As both stories continue these differences become more and more apparent and by the end, there is a clear split in what the audience ‘takes away’.
Books and movies have been around for many years and lately movie directors have been making more and more movies based off of books. Most people do not know that around 50% of movies are based off of books. Although, it really depends on what people mean when a movie is “based” off a book. Some directors say a movie is based off a book, but has a different plot and seems totally different. So, in order to keep true to the book, directors keep the plot relatively the same, but there are a few times they decide to change the message entirely by changing just a few key events.
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.
The science fiction works of “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut and “The Pedestrian”, by Ray Bradbury are sarcastic portrayals of futuristic societies that are controlled by authoritative governments that have completely made their communities equal. Each of these stories take a look at the prospect of promoting sameness and conformity among all people, and questions the effects of the forced elimination of citizens’ individuality in order to maintain equality. In “The Pedestrian” Mr. Leonard Mead faces extreme consequences for his nightly stroll in the city. In the year 2053, Mead’s society has become completely taken over by televisions and the media.
In “Harrison Bergeron” people aren’t truly equal. In this short story, they took equality to the next level. Most people think that equality is everyone being treated with the same amount of respect. Appearance has nothing to do with equality in today’s society. Although looking the same and having the same level of intelligence may decrease jealousy, people shouldn’t force others to change because of this.
The "Pedestrian" is a futuristic story about a man who is not involved with the world. Bradbury uses setting, figurative language, and symbolism to affect the overall succession of the story. First, Bradbury uses figurative language to portray the negative view of technology on people. He uses similes to show how people are affected. For example, "But now these highways, too, were like streams in a dry season all stone and bed and moon radiance.
This government made everyone became handicapped so that everyone is the same and equal and no one is better than the others. Vonnegut’s view on equality is very judgemental and selective. Society these days, pressures
Comparing and contrasting 2081 to Harrison Bergeron Admit it, one time you were bored or sat down with nothing to do and couldn’t help but imagine how life would be if everyone was equal, don’t even try denying it, you’ve thought of that at least once in your life, but as any good writer would do, they’d write their thoughts down and turn it into a story, that’s exactly what Kurt Vonnegut did. Just imagine living a life where no one gets compared to others in any way. We all wish for a society like that, but Kurt showed us how equality can negatively affect our society. But that’s not the our main idea in this essay, our main idea is to highlight the comparisons and contrasts between the story “Harrison Bergeron” and the movie version “2081”. To begin with, Both the story and the movie had the same introduction/ Opening; “Everybody was finally equal.
Ray Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian” is filled repeatedly with imagery. These descriptive phrases of imagery provide vivid details that make the story easy to imagine, so real and visual. Bradbury’s writing comes alive to the reader. This short story is about a peaceful man, walking by himself, who is picked up by the police and thrown in jail. Imagery helped readers understand the setting of “The pedestrian.”
Thesis: In Kurt Vonnegut 's story, "Harrison Bergeron," symbolism, tone, and irony reveal the author 's message to the reader which is his perspective on equality. Notably, there are countless symbols in the narrative "Harrison Bergeron" all of which trace back to the theme of the story. The handicaps people are forced to wear are symbols for the control the government has over people. "George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn 't be handicapped.
People who are not equal get handicapped in a way. George and Hazel Bergeron are the parents of Harrison, who was taken away from them when he was fourteen by the Handicapper General. George and Hazel are not even sad that their son was taken away. Hazel has average intelligence so she can only think of things in short bursts. On the other