Comparison Of Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut And Ray Bradbury

“Advancements” in Society Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury wrote Harrison Bergeron and The Pedestrian to comment on changes in society occurring at the time. Both Vonnegut and Bradbury’s short stories demonstrated dystopian literature. A dystopian society is a society where the government has total control and life is unpleasant. In Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut showed a society where advanced people were given ‘handicaps’ in order to create a totally equal society. The main character, Harrison Bergeron, rebelled against this society and in the end suffered the consequences. The Pedestrian is set in a society where everyone is glued to their televisions and no one ever leaves their houses. Leonard Mead goes outside nightly for a walk, something

Through the Bergerons, Vonnegut shows what happens when people are totally equal. He used George to show how attempting to become equal takes away individuality, “And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” This is one example of how George Bergeron was forced to surrender individuality to the society in order to make himself equal to others - by neutralizing the qualities that make him unique from everyone else. When Harrison attempted to keep the traits that give him his individuality, he met fatal consequences. “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.” Vonnegut uses Harrison to show how dangerous and harmful a society that punishes individuality is. He also uses this to again warn that equality leads to a loss of individuality. Vonnegut warns against loss of individuality through his characters and

The people in Bradbury’s society are completely glued to their televisions to the point where it’s strange for someone to simply go outside. The people have all conformed to this standard, and when Leonard Mead does not, he suffers consequences. Leonard Mead often takes walks at night, and encounters a police car in the otherwise empty city streets, as Bradbury shows, “‘What are you doing out?’ ‘Walking,’ said Leonard Mead. ‘Walking!’ ‘Just walking,’ he said, but his face felt cold. ‘Walking, just walking, walking?’...’Walking where? For what?’ ‘Walking for air. Walking to see.’...’And is there air in your house...And you have a viewing screen in your house to see with?’” The police is completely bewildered when Leonard Mead is simply walking to walk instead of watching his television inside like everyone else. The society’s conformity leads to a loss of individuality, as Leonard’s unique walking demonstrates. Once again, being unique in a uniform society causes consequences for Mead, as the author writes, “‘Where are you taking me?’ … ‘To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies.’” In a uniform society, going outside the usual behavior causes unique people like Leonard Mead to be sent to a Psychiatric Center. Throughout The Pedestrian Bradbury warns against conformity how is causes the complete loss of