Similarities Between Anthem And Harrison Bergeron

Collectivism is the idea that a group 's needs must be put before the needs of oneself and the society functions as “we” rather that “me”. Throughout the stories one sees how each author portrays the use of a collectivist society though uniqueness, equality, and transgression. There are many similarities between the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand and the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
In Anthem and “Harrison Bergeron” one could see that a similar theme is that going against the grain causes consequences. According to “Harrison Bergeron” a ballerina states that “ ‘Harrison Bergeron age fourteen,’ she said in a grackle squawk, ‘has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.’ (...) The picture showed the full length of of Harrison against a background

According to “Harrison Bergeron” George states that “ ‘If I tried to get away with it,’ said George, ‘then other people’d get away with it-and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?’ “ (Vonnegut 2). One can see that people in this collectivist society such as George know that breaking the law can do no good for oneself or others. In Anthem the text states that “International 4-8818 and we are friends. This is an evil to say, for it is a transgression, the great Transgression of Preference, to love any among men better than others, since we must must love all men and all men are our friends” (Rand 30). This shows that if one chooses to commit a transgression in a collectivist society they’re willing to put “me” before “we.” Both stories allow the reader to see the effects one can have on a society if they commit a transgression within their