ipl-logo

Equality And Injustice In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

1013 Words5 Pages

Equality is an aspect of life that everyone strives for because freedom is something everyone wants. Equality is defined as the quality or state of being equal: the quality or state of having the same rights, social status, etc. ("Equality."). Equality has just recently made its way into human society. For thousands of years, humans have had anything but equality. We’ve had enslaved each other, restricted peoples’ basic rights, and made people follow inhumane laws. In a perfect (utopian) society, everyone is equal, but, with equality, injustice always follows. Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” is a poem set in year 2081 where the government has made society overly equal. The government handicaps the citizens who are above average in intelligence, beauty, strength, and speed. This equality is due to their “211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General” (Vonnegut). With these amendments, everyone is literally equal. No one is more beautiful or smarter than everyone else and also no one is faster or stronger than anyone else. The way they handicap these citizens is where the injustice is rooted. In Kurt Vonnegut’s …show more content…

Diana represents the extremes of equality through her unjust system of government, and Harrison represents the extremes of inequality, individualism, and freedom through a caste system where only the wealthy people will be able to express their selves and have freedom. Both Harrison and Diana’s ideas of equality has corrupt consequences in which Diana’s takes away individuality and Harrison’s takes away equality and freedom. In this story, Vonnegut illustrates that the only society that should exist is one that accepts individuality and lets its citizen be equal without any physical

Show More
Related

  • Kurt Vonnegut Rhetorical Analysis

    59 Words  | 1 Pages

    the idea of equality was taken to the extreme. Satire is also used to exaggerate how awful equality is to persuade readers to believe that total equality will violate human rights. Kurt Vonnegut also uses symbols such as handicaps which make everyone equal and Harrison Bergeron to display the lack of freedom present in a world of total equality.

    Read More

  • Absolute Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    1063 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Importance of Absolute Equality in “Harrison Bergeron” For hundreds of years, humanity has struggled to define equality, as well implement the concept properly into society. Slaves; prisoners of war; and even in today’s society, we still see people of color treated as lesser than their Caucasian counterparts. Interestingly enough, color is never introduced as a problem in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron”. While most people nowadays would agree that the word “equality” refers to equal opportunity, Vonnegut forces this word to the extremes, and warps its meaning into something much more controlling, to the point where it harms society more than inequality ever did.

    Read More

  • Socialism And Capitalism In Harrison Bergeron, By Kurt Vonnegut

    1237 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Harrison Bergeron,” written by Kurt Vonnegut at the time of the Cold War, is a short story that takes place in a future world of the year 2081 where the Handicapper General and the law force the beautiful to wear masks, the intelligent to wear earpieces that disrupt their thoughts, and the athletic to wear heavy physical restraints, so that everyone may be equal in the categories of beauty, intelligence, and athleticism; a world where the people “[are] equal in every which way.” (Vonnegut 1) What the many readers of “Harrison Bergeron” seem to misinterpret is that the entire story is an allegory to the political systems of Socialism/Communism and that Vonnegut utilizes symbols in the story that either expose the glaring flaws of left-wing politics or advance the supposedly far-superior ideology of American capitalism. In actuality, Vonnegut’s use of symbols in “Harrison Bergeron,” and the entire story itself is a satire of the common American’s ignorant misunderstandings of left-wing politics at the time of the Cold War. Vonnegut once said at a college commencement speech, “I suggest that you work for a socialist form of government … It isn 't moonbeams to talk of modest plenty for all.

    Read More

  • Harrison Bergeron Kurt Vonnegut Analysis

    955 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Harrison Bergeron” is a short fiction written by Kurt Vonnegut, the story is set in the year 2081, and it talks about a futuristic society where all people are equal. No one is smarter, beautiful or stronger than the other, and if someone happens to be better than the others they find themselves compelled by The United States Handicapper General to wear what they call “handicaps” in order to bring down their abilities to the most basic levels as the others. Throughout the story, Vonnegut expresses a strong and vigorous political and social criticism of some historical events in the US during 1960s such as the Cold War and Communism, television and American Culture and Civil Rights Movement. “Harrison Bergeron” was published in 1961 during that time several events were happening around the world in general and in the US in specific which was engaged in a series of political and economic crisis with the communist Soviet Union know as The

    Read More

  • Examples Of Individualism In Harrison Bergeron

    707 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Harrison Bergeron Literary Analysis Essay

    923 Words  | 4 Pages

    One common afternoon in the year of 2081, when everyone was equal, Hazel and George Bergeron were in their lovely living room watching television. Suddenly, a news reporter with a severe speech impediment came on. After trying many times to say, “Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” he handed it off to a ballerina who read, “Harrison Bergeron, age 14, has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.” However, in this short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut uses irony, shift and mood, and allusion to illustrated haw society would be if everyone was under the law of equality.

    Read More

  • Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut

    688 Words  | 3 Pages

    Instead of allowing people to realize their potential, the government forces them to sit back and meet an average or minimal expectation. If someone is smarter than the average person, the government constantly interrupts their thought process instead of allowing them to think straight and possibly help society. If someone and more beautiful than the average person, the government forces them to wear an ugly mask to hide their features. If someone is stronger than the average person, the government makes them wear extreme amounts of weights, or at least enough to bring them down to the average. The second piece of evidence the story provides is the fact that it says nothing about the Handicapper General or any of her agents wearing handicaps.

    Read More

  • Single Paragraph Essay: Harrison Bergeron

    208 Words  | 1 Pages

    Equality means everyone has equalrights, not that nobody is better than anyone else

    Read More

  • Situational Irony In Harrison Bergeron

    660 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. relies on the use of irony to indicate where our country will stand once we have gained total equality amongst each other. The theme in “Harrison Bergeron” is that the government cannot enforce equality within the people. The author creates a fictional visualization of the future in the year 2081, where the government controls the people and tortures them in order to maintain “equal opportunity” in their world to prove why it is impossible to achieve absolute equality in the world. Vonnegut dives into a whole other level of uniformity in Harrison Bergeron by focusing on eliminating advantages in appearance, intelligence, strength, and other unique abilities rather than focusing on

    Read More

  • Harrison Bergeron Movie Comparison

    343 Words  | 2 Pages

    Compare Contrast Essay Equality means “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities”(Merriam Webster). This can be a good thing in many ways, however having too much equality is a bad thing. Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and 2081 are similar because Harrison is shot and killed in the story and the movie, however they are different by in the movie Harrison plants a bomb where in the story there is no bomb.

    Read More

  • Satire In Harrison Bergeron

    589 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Inequality In Harrison Bergeron

    666 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hopelessness of Inequality In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, in the future of 2081, everyone is completely equal. The government tries their very best to enforce and does whatever it takes to get equality. The Government have an Handicap general that uses handicaps to make everyone who is over average, average. Harrison Bergeron, son of George and Hazel, doesn't agree with equality, and do whatever it takes to exceed inequality.

    Read More

  • Irony And Symbolism In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    940 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is a short, but powerful excerpt from the short story “Harrison Bergeron”. Not only does it make you wonder why everyone is equal, but makes you wonder how in the world did everyone become equal? The short film, 2081 is based off of its short story “Harrison Bergeron”, yet their stories are quite different from each other. In the short story and the short film, Kurt Vonnegut presents a scary view of human society in the United States in the future, in which the citizens are all uniform. This then leads to their loss of individuality, and therefore to the absolute deformity of humanness.

    Read More

  • What Is The Cost Of Equality In Harrison Bergeron

    519 Words  | 3 Pages

    Contrasts between the reader’s perspective and the character’s perspective about inequality show cost of equality in ”Harrison Bergeron.” In the future United States shown in the story, equality is valued above all else, and the society has taught citizens that being better or worse than another is something bad. When Hazel says to her handicapped husband, “Go on and rest the bag for a little while," … "I don't care if you're not equal to me for a while." ( Vonnegut Jr 51) it makes the differing perspectives between the reader and the characters immediately

    Read More

  • Democracy In Harrison Bergeron

    808 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Vonnegut’s futuristic view of America, equality is a controlled value that the “…agents of the United States Handicapper General” (1) enforces. This story contains extreme exaggeration of characters and the storyline itself to portray a futuristic world in which equality is broadened so much to the point where everyone is impaired. Vonnegut uses a vast amount of satire to highlight the issue that too much of a “good thing” such as equality may lead to bad things such as oppression and an actual loss of freedom. Vonnegut consistently uses the tool of exaggeration to get his point across. One example of his use of exaggeration is his description of the character Harrison Bergeron who is described as “…a genius and an athlete, [who] is under-handicapped, and [someone who] should be regarded as extremely dangerous.”

    Read More

More about Equality And Injustice In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Open Document