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Vonnegut's Central Message In Harrison Bergeron

663 Words3 Pages

Armani Sierra-Bolejack Mr. Brookes English 4
March 22, 2023
Harrison Berguson
~ Kurt Vonnegut
In the short story, Harrison Bergeron, what will be discussed is how the author of the Kurt Vonnegut, used features of dystopia to convey his central message. The central message of the story is that true equality can never be achieved, humans can never be equal. The three ways that Vonnegut portrays dystopia is through Authoritarian rule/Dictatorship, citizens under constant surveillance and fear. Vonnegut does a great job using these three features of dystopia to convey the central message of the dangers of taking away individuality.
The first feature of dystopia is authoritarian rule/dictatorship. At the beginning of the story Vonnegut states that the government amended the constitution. It states, “All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution” (pg 1). This shows that the government was so invested in having no competition and making people equal that they made new amendments in the constitution to repress the civilians even further. Next, Vonnegut explains that George, the husband of Hazel, had to wear a mental handicap radio to …show more content…

On page 2, Hazel states that “The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society”. Clearly the readers see that this is a society built on fear. Not knowing what will happen to them if they break a law. Afraid of the consequences for their actions. Another example is when Harrison and the Ballerina were gunned down on live T.V. for everyone to see, Vonnegut writes “It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” (pg 5). Diana allowed the millions of people watching to see what would happen if they broke the law, they would most likely be murdered just like Harrison and the

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