Harrison Bergeron Racial Equality Analysis

In “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, and Anthem by Ayn Rand, both novelists define equality throughout the societies. According to Vonnegut’s “Harrison

“Harrison Bergeron” shows total equality in an extreme way that catches attention, to show there are consequences to this often sought after way of life. The author uses the extreme ways the government forces equality to demonstrate how equality actually degrades society as a whole. The story showed how forced equality can make people have unrealistic and absurd world views, and how important jobs in society are left to people who are incompetent and unfit for the job. All of these consequences are easily paralleled in society today, and, unless people recognize the danger, could quickly become a serious

Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality, is trying to make unequal things equal.” A major example of this concept of inequality displays itself through humans. Although people may seem similar and equal, each personality and talent differs from one another. Now one might wonder what it would be like if every single person were truly equal. This theme is developed in the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, and also in the film 2081 directed by Chandler Tuttle. Tuttle’s film is based off of Vonnegut’s short story, however, through the portrayal of individualism, humanity, and a corrupt government, 2081 depicts a more realistic society than the short story “Harrison Bergeron.”

The term Gender, as defined by the United Nations, includes the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. It further defines acceptable

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.

“Harrison Bergeron” is a unique story, in the sense that it takes place in 2081 in a dystopian society where everyone is equal. No one could be smarter, better-looking, or more athletic than anyone else. They are made equal with mental handicap radios for those who are intelligent, hideous masks for those who are beautiful, and heavy weights for those who are strong.

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”-Ray Bradbury. Censorship is the act of limiting information, ideas, or the freedom of thought, from life. Censorship can be used because of offensive, sensitive, harmful, or objectionable speech/ideas. In life, censorship is used a lot, more than people think. It also affects lives too. People barely notice it, or care for it, but censorship is there. Censorship has been used for a long time, it has a lot of history. Censorship is found in books, media, or any other form of expression. Censorship is powerful. Everyone should be aware of censorship. Censorship is a theme conveyed in the works of many, such as, I am Very Real by Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison

Imagine a world where the government takes control and nobody is unique. A world set in the future, where three amendments changed the United States and made everyone equal. People are made equal by devices that alter their thinking, appearance, and strength. Then one day, a 14-year-old called Harrison Bergeron comes along breaking his handicaps on live TV to show the beauty of regular life. Then, he is shot dead during a dance. The theme in “Harrison Bergeron” is that equality could be dangerous.

“Equality in pay has improved in the US since 1979 when women earned about 62 percent as much as men. In 2010, American women on average earned 81 percent of what their male counterparts earned” ( Highlights in the US). “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem both are dystopian societies that tried to create equality, but end up with horrible corruption, no real equality, and incorrect portrayals of equality. In “Harrison Bergeron” the society leaders use handicaps to bring people down to the lowest level or the “average” of their society. There are similar concepts in Anthem, no one can be better than anyone, but they use shame and guilt to keep their people in line. Equality is when everyone is given the same opportunities

In “Harrison Bergeron” people aren’t truly equal. In this short story, they took equality to the next level. Most people think that equality is everyone being treated with the same amount of respect. Appearance has nothing to do with equality in today’s society. Although looking the same and having the same level of intelligence may decrease jealousy, people shouldn’t force others to change because of this. In this short story, everything has to do with equality. No one can be more intelligent, stronger, or more attractive. Handicaps are making people unequal.

The united states has forever talked about and tried for a equal perfect society but in the story “Harrison Bergeron” it shows us that that is impossible. Nobody is equal. No one is the same we all have different specialties and different weaknesses. So the effort for making a equal society is impractical. It is impossible for an equal society. In “Harrison Bergeron” the government makes an attempt for everyone to be equal and the same in every way. This plan to make everyone equal ends up making everyone miserable. You can’t be better than anyone in any way and you are the same as everyone else. The idea of a equal society is very uncivil.

“Whether it is big or small, the size of a poor man’s yard incessantly reminds him that he is poor.” ―Mokokoma Mokhonoana

The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. Skeeter, a southern society girl, interviews the black women who have spent their lives being servants for wealthy white Southern families. There are various scenes throughout the film that show social stratification, racial inequalities, gender inequalities, and class inequalities.

Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources. They are not shut out from opportunities like the middle and lower class. The class that an individual is in affects their chance

Homelessness is a significant complex societal problem. Many people think homelessness is an individual problem, but I think society has a large factor on why people become homeless. Individuals who are homeless are not lazy like most of society thinks. These people are struggling with societal problems such as living costs and mostly cannot support themselves financially. In my eyes, Homelessness is a factor of societal forces such as high cost of housing and living and also society having failed systems to support people who are stuck in these sorts of situations. Because of these issues, society should develop better strategies to help these people in need to eliminate the growing poverty level through the world. These strategies could include