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Theme Of Dystopian Societies In Harrison Bergeron And Anthem

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A utopian society is a society in which everything is perfect and people get to do what they please, when they please. They get to pick how they live their lives, how they determine their mates, and how they choose their occupations. The stories “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem show that this utopian world can’t be achieved. In fact, in both, the societies are actually dystopian. Clearly, there are many similarities in the themes of Anthem by Ayn Rand and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. One of the themes shared between the two stories is many people tend to follow the crowd. Ayn Rand shows the theme by saying, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (Rand 19). Here the people of the society in Rand's …show more content…

Equality asserts, “But the following day, when we came to the road, they smiled. They smiled to us and for us. And we smiled in answer. Their head fell back, and their arms fell, as if their arms and their thin white neck were stricken suddenly with a great lassitude. They were not long looking upon us, but upon the sky. Then they glanced at us over their shoulder, and we felt as if a hand had touched our body, slipping softly from our lips to our feet” (Rand 40). Everybody in the society shouldn’t be judged on who they fall in love with, also they shouldn’t not be able to love somebody because how they are. On the other hand, the society in “Harrison Bergeron” acts a little different towards the love side. The story discusses, “I don't care if you’re not equal to me for a while” (Vonnegut 2). Here he is trying to explain that he loves her even though they are different than each other, also that he doesn’t care that they aren’t the exact same. Subsequently both should follow their hearts because that is the right thing to do, no matter what other people think, because it isn’t their lives that are being

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