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Harrison Bergeron Dystopian Society

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Comparing and Contrasting Utopia to Harrison Bergeron
Rosalie Roffler | Language Arts Per. 3 | September 11, 2016

How can two almost opposite societies have so much in common? Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s short story, Harrison Bergeron, a dystopian society, and Sir Thomas More's book, Utopia, (obviously a utopian society), have many similarities in their ideas about society, although the way they carry out their ideas is very different. Both books have almost the same basic concepts when it comes to beliefs and their ways of life.
One of the beliefs that both societies have in common is that everyone should be treated equally. In Utopia, they believe, that everyone should be taught the same thing, everyone should be treated the same way, and everyone should get the same respect. If …show more content…

That’s where these two societies really differ. In Utopia, the society raises the individuals up. They don’t make everyone the same on the inside, but what they do is treat every citizen with the same respect, the same kindness, and the same love. This is much unlike the ways the society in Harrison Bergeron goes about equality. They change who the “abnormal” people really are by bringing them down, but meanwhile they are really bringing the whole society down. I don’t think that making everyone the same is fair, because they are making all of these special, talented, smart individuals, become one with the “normal” or average people. No one gets to have their own thoughts or actions! Just like these two societies think everyone should be treated equally, they also believe that everyone should look equal. In Utopia, one of their ways of life is that all individuals should look the same, “Throughout

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