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Symbolism, Politics, And Irony In Harrison Bergeron

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Harrison Bergeron is a short story that takes place in a world where everyone is equal. This short story takes place in a future where people are handicapped so they could ‘finally be equal’. The main character, Harrison Bergeron, tries to change the world that he lives in but he in the end he fails. Vonnegut utilizes themes such as symbolism, politics, and irony to help us connect to the world of Harrison Bergeron. Symbolism is used in this story to make something stand for something else. Vonnegut uses symbolism where the handicaps are used to blind both physically and mentally. A dumb population can easily be controlled. The Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, has a very pretty first name (Diana Moon) but her last name is very ugly, as if to symbolize that on the outside she is pretty but in the inside she’s ugly. In line 74, Harrison and the Empress “leaped like deer on the moon” as if to say they were jumping all over Diana Moon Glampers; they were running over the government and society. Symbolism is a way to show how one thing is a reference to another thing. …show more content…

In the short film “2081”, it is shown that the government wears the handicaps in front of the public, but behind their backs they take off the handicaps. This shows that the government is using the people and not everyone is ‘equal under the law’. Especially with the introduction of a new role of power, the Handicapper General, no one can be equal if there is someone in control. Harrison is trying to change something within this government. The usage of handicaps is just another the government can control the people. Mental handicaps were a way to stop the people from questioning the government. This story is the embodiment of politics; Vonnegut tries to use this as way to show how blind people

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