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Role Of Government In Harrison Bergeron

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In modern society, people have seen many different types of government and made movies concerning them. The question that human kind keeps on asking is how much control the government should have over the people since it affects people in all aspects: economic, political, social, environmental, and others. In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the government in the science-fiction society controls the citizens’ freedom in order to remain in power. Kurt Vonnegut describes how the government takes over the citizens’ every move by describing the mechanisms in place such as not educating the people and the laws passed to establish control over them and to end all revolts. For example, Vonnegut describes how “the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments… [of] the Constitution… [leads] to the unceasing …show more content…

The author uses this idea to show that the government can easily and fully dominate people’s wills and have them at their fingertips by passing laws that allows them to do so; as a result the government is unfettered by anybody since nobody will be able to question their authority. Another case describing the mechanisms set by the government to maintain power is with Harrison Bergeron when he addresses the public and says “Even as I stand here…crippled, hobbled, sickened-I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become… [he broke his handicap harness, and straps holding him down and took] away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor… [he danced with a ballerina and then] Diana Moon Clamper, the Handicapper General, came… [and] fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” This description of who Harrison Bergeron is, and how he died illustrates the power and character of the government, since government

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