Harrison Bergeron Assignment

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr takes place in the futuristic setting of 2081. Vonnegut harshly criticizes society's morals and values and also uncovers the corrupt truth of what it would be like if individuality and uniqueness were forbidden. “Harrison Bergeron” explores the possibility of too much power placed in the government's hands. In this society, those who are better than others are given handicaps in order to maintain the peace and create equality amongst the population. The handicapping is seen to be absolutely necessary in order to prevent rivalries also known as the “dark ages”(1) from happening again.

In the story of “Harrison Bergeron”, George and Hazel Bergeron’s son is murdered, but because of the world they live in they cannot mourn the way normal parents might. The reader must conclude their own thoughts on what they think is right or wrong with how George and Hazel reacted to Harrison’s death. These are some things the reader must know and take into consideration to make a fair judgement of the two parents. George Bergeron had well-above average intelligence but was required by law to wear a special small handicap transmitter that would send sharp waves of random sound every twenty seconds, impairing him the ability to use his intelligence. He also was required to wear a forty-seven pound bag of birdshot which was padlocked around his neck.

One of the greatest themes portrayed in the short story “Harrison Bergeron” is that, in society, there are always going to be people better at somethings than others. This story portrays this theme very well by proving no matter how people try to be equal, they will never be. In the story, people wear glasses to all have the same sight, people wear headphones to block out new ideas, and people wear weights to suppress their true strength. Even with all these considered, people are still different based off sex, height, will power, and money. Money was never talked about in the story, but in a society that is truly equal, there has to be a difference in pay, or no job would get done.

In the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, the government wants everyone to be equal, so no one feels inferior. They make people that are more intelligent, athletic or attractive where handicaps such as heavy weights, masks, and a mental handicap radio . Harrison Bergeron is in jail because the government thinks he will try to overthrow it, which he ends up attempting to. He is killed by the government along with a ballerina because they take off all their handicaps and disobeyed. Even though he tries to do good by defying the government, he ends up achieving nothing but his death.

“Most dystopian, classic and contemporary, paints a future world that puts a twist on present society - a future world that could plausibly happen” -Lauren DeStefano. Throughout the short story of Harrison Bergeron, the film A.I and the short story The Veldt, many themes of dystopian futures are explored. Firstly, Harrison Bergeron is about a dystopian future where everyone losses their individuality. Secondly, in A.I. humans ability to have empathy is blurred or lost. Finally, in The Veldt the advancements in technology has led to a loss in people having personal relationships.

In Harrison Bergeron they try to make it to where everyone is equal. Something that our society strives for today. You have women that want to be equal to men and African Americans and Muslims that want to be treated like every other American. Everyone being 100% equal would never work because like in Harrison Bergeron when the son rebels and tries to become the ruler people start to follow. While in the story he and his girl get shot in real life even with them getting shot more people will start to up rise.

“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is a short story that is set in the year of 2081 when everyone is equal, due to the change of the Constitutional Amendments. The only way for everyone to be equal is to give handicaps to the talented people. The Handicapper General and her agents enforce the laws to maintain equality and prevent renegades, such as Harrison Bergeron, from taking control. George and Hazel Bergeron are watching a television program when a news bulletin suddenly interrupts, saying that Harrison Bergeron has escaped from prison. Harrison then appears on the T.V. and begins to rebel in front of everyone, but is stopped by the Handicapper General shooting him.

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” conveys the conflict between the needs or ideals of society and the realities of individuals. The society in the story is structured to allow the utopian ideal of equality for everyone. As Vonnegut writes early in the story, “They were equal in every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better than anybody else.

There are differences in what the reader thinks a character is like and what a character is written to be. Once the character is written, it is written with characteristics that create its personality. A good character is like a painting, the details that are put in, some details will stick out. So these details can make a resemblance of the setting, mood, or everything in the story, and those details are the characteristics that make a good protagonist. The trait that creates a good protagonist is bravery.

‘’Harrison Bergeron’’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a story about a young man that lives in a dystopia where everything is ‘’equal’’ and gets killed for disobeying the laws. Through ‘’Harrison Bergeron’’ Kurt Vonnegut Jr. utilized the characters Harrison and the ballerina to show that total equality is impossible when everybody is different from one another. Harrison is a hero among individuality along with the brave ballerina that chose to stand with him to be who she is. Harrison Bergeron shows a clear example of heroism. He announces that he will become the emperor, and that he will take away everybody's equality and give them individuality and uniqueness as he will be above everyone else.

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” is a tale of a futuristic world in which everyone is weekend in order to be “equal”. It shows that be different from someone else is wrong, and should be corrected. This is what shows that Kurt Vonnegut’s (the author) view on equality is that it is something that isn’t worth striving for. In the story, it is said that everyone has to where bags of birdshot (shotgun bullets) around them so that no one is stronger than another. The amount of birdshot that was in the bags, varied depending on the person’s strength.