Similarities Between 1984 And Harrison Bergeron

"A book is a loaded gun in the house next door" (Bradbury 56). This quote was from Fahrenheit 451, a book where technology takes over a society and diverse knowledge is banned. People who own books are deemed crazy and have everything burned down. It connects to Harrison Bergeron, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, where everyone is equal by bringing everyone down to the lowest average. People in this dystopian society are handicapped mentally and physically and when someone decides to rebel they are met with grave consequences. Both Fahrenheit 451 and Harrison Bergeron show us that the censorship of knowledge and thoughts has a negative impact on individuals and society. However Fahrenheit 451 emphasizes more How society gets antisocial without books. While Harrison Bergeron targets more the negative effects of no competition.

The people of the United States fight and strive for an absolute “equal” society, but is it what’s really wanted? “Harrison Bergeron,” a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut, uses satire to describe the deficiency in our idea of a truly “equal” society. Throughout the story, Vonnegut describes the torture and discomfort the government administers among the people, and though they were “equal,” they were not balanced. Vonnegut uses characterization and word choice to warn his readers of the potential drawbacks of a truly “equal” society. He warns normalcy would become the base of thought, and people would become incapable of emotion.

“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

Imagine you were not aloud to own any books, and the overpowering government will burn any books you have. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury this is the horror Guy Montag faces, firemen are forced to start fires rather than put them out. In the end, Guy Montag goes against the government and runs away to freedom. “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a short story about another overpowering government that makes everyone equal in every way. Everyone is just as fast, strong, and smart, and to do this the government gives everyone handicaps that make them equal. Hazel and George are couple who had a son named Harrison. Harrison is arrested for planning to overthrow the government. He then comes back and is shot for not wearing handicaps and

In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, everyone is finally equal in every which way. No one person is stronger, more beautiful, smarter, taller, or is just overall better than someone else.This is all thanks to the current government, who did this using weights, ugly masks, and ear pieces that let loose noises to interrupt a person’s thoughts. One man, named Harrison Bergeron, was recently arrested only to break out a few weeks later. Harrison rushed towards a studio that was, unknowingly to him, recording a ballerina performance. He ran in, interrupting the performance, and ripped off his handicaps and began proclaiming himself as emperor. One of the ballerinas stood up and Harrison removed her handicaps. They

The story, Harrison Bergeron really shows the importance of diversity and for every individual to have a right to be unique. The government trying to make every thing completely fair is actually unfair to people who can 't get any excitement in a world like this. Limiting peoples thinking will also strongly slow any advances in technology, maybe even to a stop, so they might never solve some of the very important problems they face. Same with strength, if someones is in danger to an animal or a malfunctioning machine they will need to be able to escape. So really a world thats completely fair is impossible to create.

The two stories, “Harrison Bergeron” and Fahrenheit 451, both have common themes. The common themes of the stories may include; our reliance on technology can spiral out of control if we let it, knowledge is joyful and painful, and that we can be confined by our own self-censorship. All of these themes are exhibited throughout both stories frequently. Whether it is as Montag has conflict with his wife over books or as Harrison’s parents forget right from wrong in their society.

1965, a year which started the most substantial cultural movement in United States history: The Civil Rights Movement. This movement served as a catalyst for equality between White and African Americans. After years of suppression, African Americans took a stand against white suppression, fighting for equality to be placed on the same plane of the social hierarchy. At the time, African Americans lived as socially lower beings in comparison to white people based solely on the lack of sameness. Of course, this lack of sameness is not something they could change. One race cannot simply defy nature and transform into a completely different race. The blacks were not only aware of this fact, but they also embraced it and pushed for equal rights.

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.”

is that absolute power corrupts all. Having the power to change the world or to control people can alter one's views or morals. The government in the short story became corrupt while trying to bring equality to the world. Instead of bringing peace and tolerance, the law of equality took away the individuality of the citizens. The absolute power also made the government feel as if they can control everything to make this twisted utopia. The protagonist and title character, Harrison Bergeron, also was affected by absolute power. His strength and uniqueness made him believe that he should be “emperor of the world”. That thought also lead to his defeat. The theme of absolute power corrupts in this story can also be compared to of that in Divergent by Veronica Roth. In the novel, Chicago had become split into five groups based on personalities. Anyone who was not placed into one of the categories was considered a threat and killed. The government in Divergent believed that they could make the world “perfect” if everyone was the same in their communities. In “Harrison Bergeron”, the government also believed that the only way for there to be peace was to have everyone be equal. Having absolute power can bring out the worst in a person even when the intentions of them were

Both of these stories describe the way of life the future could be like if the government is granted too much power. It shows us that we should keep limits on what the government should be able to do; find a happy medium between what is guiding people to have moral actions, and what is controlling people, such as a dictatorship.

Admit it, one time you were bored or sat down with nothing to do and couldn’t help but imagine how life would be if everyone was equal, don’t even try denying it, you’ve thought of that at least once in your life, but as any good writer would do, they’d write their thoughts down and turn it into a story, that’s exactly what Kurt Vonnegut did.

strongly controlled by the government in the year 2081; the beautiful are forced tolook ugly, the physically skilled are required to wear weights. With these handicaps makingeveryone so equal, the world became very different, odd, and average. But the government hasno right or reason to push the whole world

In 1984’s dystopian society The Party control’s all information given to the public. They have the power to alter the past, future and present. “The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated.”(Orwell).

Throughout the book the slogans of “war is peace, freedom is slavery, [and] ignorance is strength” is a forced acceptance by all citizens (Orwell 16). These particular slogans, that exemplify doublethink, are plastered everywhere. The illogicalness of doublethink completely surrounds the citizens, constantly exposing them to it. The second characteristic of monopoly over mass media is quite evident in Winston 's life. Government employees run the internet, newspapers, and radio/tv announcements. The idea of a first amendment in nonexistent. In fact, any action that represents the exercise of the first amendment is a guaranteed visit from the Thought Police for thoughts that are incongruent with the Party. Lastly, the country is run by one single party called the Party. Within the party are different divisions of rank among the employees. Inner party employees are ranked the highest, then Outer Party followed by the paroles, representing the non-governmental citizens. All Oceania is overseen by a metaphorical man called Big Brother which represents the “eyes” of the government. Even though there is not actually one person deemed Big Brother, he is the “embodiment of the