Anthem And Harrison Begeron Analysis

Equality: Peace or Prison

Imagine a society where each person is taught to be exactly the same. The stories of both Anthem and Harrison Begeron are very similar in their Dystopian Society. The authors of these stories, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and Ayn Rand, set their stories in Dystopian Societies in which everyone tries to be the exact same. Both stories have a small amount of people who want a change. Dystopian Societies are driven by governments whose purpose is to create similarity and obedience in all of their citizens. Both of the stories, Anthem and Harrison, have similar governments with the same goals. The governments in both stories want the same type of community, with no individuals. Each person is expected to be the same as the one before. The government in Anthem built their community around a saying, “There are no men but the great we” (Rand 91). This shows

In both communities people are forced to live exactly the same and not have any thing unique about them. In Anthem the community is taught this by being told, “We are nothing. Mankind is all” (Rand 20). This shows that they were told from day one that they should never think about themselves in life, but instead think only about the community and what is best for all. They believe that the community being exactly the same is alright, because they are taught that it is all for the greater good. The community in Harrison Bergeron, is treated more like prisoners than a civilization. They are forced not to move or think they are special in any way. Anyone that is unique or smarter than the average person is forced to wear a handy cap which, “every twenty seconds or so, would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their bran” (Rand 1). The handicaps are a perfect example of how the smallest things are met with brutal force and