Harrison Bergeron Character Analysis

Have you ever wondered what it is like to live in a world where everyone is equal, no one is prettier, nobody is smarter, and you had to wear devices to make you forget certain things. Well, Harrison Bergeron is and this is the story about how Harrison Bergeron is a threat. Overall, do to well proven facts from both the movie and the short story, it is clear that Harrison Bergeron is both a danger and a threat to society. So in this essay, you are going to be seeing multiple facts from the story, proving that Harrison Bergeron is a threat to society.

The story “Harrison Bergeron” conveys the conflicts between the needs and ideals of society and the realities of individuals by showing that individuals feel ruled out of society. Of course, this creates an “idealistic” society by countering out individuals. This is shown by “they were equal every which way” ( Vonnegut 101). This shows that nobody had any individuality. Therfore creating the conflict in this”utopia”.

Throughout the course of the year, as a class, we have discussed countless works from a variety of authors, artists, directors and speakers. One overarching theme from these works is the ability that a character can have to redefine social standards and have the courage to break societal norms. In society, it is incredibly hard to take a different stance than your peers and choose an alternative to the ordinary. The contrasting forces between good and evil in the world is the cause for exceptional people who are able to break social norms, however, not always in a positive manner. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the film Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg, and the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut,

Vonnegut uses the element of characterization. The character Harrison represents uniqueness with the traits he was given. He has none of the passivity that characterize nearly everyone else in the story. When he storms into the TV studio and announces that he is the emperor, the greatest ruler who has

This essay explains the many ways the author of the story “Harrison Bergeron” used to convey the tone absurdity towards society. His vast arsenal of literary techniques helped bring a better understanding of the story to the reader. Some of the many ways the author used to heighten the effect of the story were diction, tone, and irony. Those three techniques will be taken a further look at in this piece of writing.

Harrison Bergeron is a short story and film, 2081, that tells about a man who lives in a world where everyone is equal. Due to the 211, 212, and 213 amendment, everyone stong wears weights, everyone who is smart wears an earpiece, and everyone beautiful wears a mask. The film and story are similar and different in many ways. There are different descriptions of characters and different dialogue. The are similar in ways such as the image of Harrison and the death of Harrison. While both the film and story are about Harrison Bergeron, we believe that the film is better

(Need a hook). The author uses of view of a child, Scout Finch, along with two other children, Jem Finch and Dill, to show the innocence of children is taken away from the coming of age. She uses a trial against a black man raping a white girl to show how children are innocent.

Being the older sibling, Jem realizes the long-held values of Maycomb, but only as he matures does he understand what it means to have moral integrity. There are many times in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee in which the reader can see Jem’s maturity and his moral values. The first time Jem starts to understand moral integrity is when he is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose. After her death, Atticus explains just how much she was going through, and this information had a great impact on Jem. Jem furthers his knowledge of moral integrity during the trial. Jem believes that Atticus and Tom Robinson have won because he knows that the evidence was strong. Atticus ends up losing, which causes Jem to realize how much men will overlook evidence and the truth just to go against an African American. Lastly, Jem understands moral integrity while watching and learning from Atticus. Atticus firmly believes in ideas such as Tom Robinson’s innocence. He never gave up or fell to other men’s beliefs during the time of the trial, before it, or after it.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee many characters are victims of the harsh conditions of Maycomb County. Often those who are seen to be metaphorical mockingbirds are punished the most. A mockingbird is one who only wants and attempts to do good. Characters such as Boo Radley, Jem Finch and Tom Robinson are exemplars of mockingbirds in Maycomb. In the novel it is explained by Atticus that killing a mockingbird is a sin because they do not do anything to harm to us like nesting in corncribs, or eating up the gardens, they only sing for us. Multiple characters are symbolized as mockingbirds because it would be a sin to kill them as they only try and want to be a kind, civil person.

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch and his children Scout and Jem live in the prejudice town of Maycomb, Alabama. In the town they have many misconceptions of things such as Boo Radley, who has not been seen out of his house for fifteen years ever since he was caught causing a disturbance but the children soon figure out what really occurred after he got into trouble. As the story progresses Atticus accepts the request to defend a colored man named Tom Robinson which affects his family in multiple ways. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee uses characterization to show how in the process of growing up children

In “Harrison Bergeron,” the author’s use of allusion and similes help develop the theme that complete equality is bad. First, allusions help develop the theme. In the text, the author states “All this equality is due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution.” This alludes to the United States of America, which is many other pieces of literature. This shows how laws have been put in place to make everybody equal. Second, the theme is created using similes. The author writes that Harrison snapped off his head harness “like celery” and tore his handicap harness off “like wet tissue paper.” These examples show how unequal he is to everybody, proving that complete equality is bad, and in turn, cannot be achieved. In

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change”. (Albert Einstein) In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr talks about how everyone is equal by wearing handicaps. In the novella Anthem technological advancement is planned and the meaning of individuality is forbidden. “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem are both pieces of dystopian literature which portray (their protagonists,theme,education) similarly.

When reading To Kill a Mockingbird a fiction novel by Harper Lee,there are atrocities that will cause the reader to empathy for the people,because the people are misunderstood and disliked , this going for almost every character in the book in their own ways To have empathy is to understand what somebody is going through, being able to understand because you probably have been through the same or similar things. I think that a man more so a child should never go throw some of the things that Tom Robinson and Walter Cunningham go through , there misunderstood by everyone,mistreated by the other folks, both live and are victims of poverty .

A story made into a movie is always a best-seller. Harrison Bergeron, the short story is written and published by Kurt Vonnegut. Harrison the hero sacrifices his life in order to gain freedom of the handicaps. In 2081, the handicaps were imposed by the laws. In both the story and the movie the hero sacrifices his life for freedom but there were differences. For example Harrison’s appearance has changed, the tittle is changed, and finally the mother and father’s role are switched.

The bliss of ignorance can only last so long; as Jem loses his innocence as a child, he also loses his ignorance of society’s cruelty. Jem’s new found knowledge leads him to have a basic understanding of society’s transgressions towards him, his family, and African-Americans, are simply outrageous. His once curiosity of society’s standards, has now changed into sorrow and enlightenment. Jem’s enlightenment consist of simply the start of him becoming an adult. Jem is no longer a child, as mentioned in chapter twelve, “This change in Jem had come about in matter of weeks (…) it seemed, Jem had acquired an alien set of values” (Lee 153). The unfortunate events that happened during Jem’s childhood forced him to mature and grow as a person, for