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Kurt Vonnegut Conformity In Society

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Conformity is something that humans have been doing for a long time. Such conformity has lead to negative outcomes. This idea is explored through “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden. In these two texts conformity eliminates individuality and causes the society to be weakened. In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut conformity is present in society and individuality is eliminated throughout society which weakens society. First Vonnegut proves the citizens are conforming by saying “They were equal in every which way” (text 1). This shows that conformity exist in the society. By everyone conforming to each other it forces them to be equal to one another. The only way the behavior of the citizens is accepted …show more content…

First, the government is memorializing a citizen, but this citizen has no identity. The speaker of the poem proves that conformity exist by saying “That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint” (text 2). The diction W.H. Auden used in this part of the poem helps the reader understand how this citizen was perfect in the eyes of the government. Auden said that the citizen was a “saint”. A saint is usually someone who is a good example for others to follow. By the government saying this citizen was a saint it implies that the other citizens in the society should follow after him. This shows conformity because the citizens are following after each other. The citizens in the society are conforming to the unknown citizen that the government is speaking so highly of. Second, the poem shows the loss of individuality in the citizens. The speaker says “He worked in a factory and never got fired” (text 2). This shows that the unknown citizen was average. Never getting fired isn’t an accomplishment that should be memorialized, but the government wants other citizens to be as average as the unknowncitizen. This eliminates individuality because the other citizens will follow after this example and soon they will all be average. The citizens can’t be unique if they are all indirectly told to become average. Lastly, the poem shows that the society is weakened. The

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