Compare And Contrast Harrison Bergeron

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. An example of this is the short story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut and the film 2081 directed by Chandler Tuttle. Although the short film if based off of

In the short story, most people see Vonnegut’s character as an immature fourteen year-old boy. People can see this easily when he states his goal is to become an “emperor” and how “Everybody must do what [he] say[s] at once!” (3). Harrison then goes on to stamping his foot in a way most people would see from a child who is throwing a tantrum. This is important because when Harrison points out that he only wants to be an emperor, it really shows how little he cares about the message the people saw and more about want he wants. By rebelling against the government, he was sending a weak message that people can be free if they take action, but Harrison is not a strong role model to look up to if you are wanting to rebel, since he acts more like a child. On the other hand, Tuttle took it upon himself to create a hero for the enslaved people. In 2081, Harrison is a twenty year-old man whose goal is to show the people what they could become if they thought for themselves. This message is quite similar to Vonnegut’s, but Tuttle sends the message in a more emotional and powerful way that touches the viewers. While on stage, Harrison gives a speech about himself and then goes on to really reach into the minds of the audience. He starts by saying “[He is] a fugitive, and a public threat . . . an abomination of the able . . . an exception to the accepted . . . the greatest man you have never known.” He then gives the very inspirational part by telling the people that “[the government] had hoped to destroy in me any trace of the extraordinary—and in time I came to share that hope. But the extraordinary, it seems, was simply out of their reach. So now I stand before you today, beaten, hobbled, and sickened—but, sadly, not broken. And I say to you, that if it is greatness we must destroy, then let us drag our enemy out of the darkness, where it has been hiding. Let us