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Short essay about the main allusion in harrison bergeron
Analysis of characters in harrison bergeron
Short essay about the main allusion in harrison bergeron
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In both 2081 and Harrison Bergeron, symbolism can be found nearly everywhere. However, one particular form was more present than many others. In the short story and the movie, viewers can clearly observe the Acts of Vampires symbolism (How to Read Literature Like a Professor - pg 15). To begin, there was a man-made monster present in both interpretations of Harrison Bergeron's story.
Harrison Bergeron and 2081 differ in the portrayal of Harrison Bergeron's character. For example in the book Harrison Bergeron on line 52 he cried, " 'Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!’ He stamped his foot and the studio shook"(Springboard 137).
Knowledge is power, ignorance is surrender. Both stories serve as prime examples of the power that knowledge holds and consequently how depriving its citizens can be a weapon to counter uprising, because one who is unaware of any misconduct can not combat it. While both authors use two different approaches they achieve similar goals. In 1984 Orwell demonstrates how the government, in his dystopian society, attempts to eradicate not only individuality, but also intelligent thought process through the elimination of complex words as well as synonyms and antonyms. In “Harrison Bergeron” Vonnegut achieves the same effect by different means , mental handicap devices.
Comparing and contrasting 2081 to Harrison Bergeron Admit it, one time you were bored or sat down with nothing to do and couldn’t help but imagine how life would be if everyone was equal, don’t even try denying it, you’ve thought of that at least once in your life, but as any good writer would do, they’d write their thoughts down and turn it into a story, that’s exactly what Kurt Vonnegut did. Just imagine living a life where no one gets compared to others in any way. We all wish for a society like that, but Kurt showed us how equality can negatively affect our society. But that’s not the our main idea in this essay, our main idea is to highlight the comparisons and contrasts between the story “Harrison Bergeron” and the movie version “2081”. To begin with, Both the story and the movie had the same introduction/ Opening; “Everybody was finally equal.
Harrison Bergeron was a book written in 1961 that portrayed an abnormal child defying the dystopian government; in 2009 a movie was made, based off of it called 2081 that changed the character both physically and morally. The differences in how Harrison Bergeron, the main character, appears in each story changes how the audience perceives his morality. These changes are easily highlighted in Harrison’s age, dialogue, and appearance. The tone of the story is also changed, resulting in similar changes to what the audience interprets. As both stories continue these differences become more and more apparent and by the end, there is a clear split in what the audience ‘takes away’.
By rebelling against the government, he was sending a weak message that people can be free if they take action, but Harrison is not a strong role model to look up to if you are wanting to rebel, since he acts more like a child. On the other hand, Tuttle took it upon himself to create a hero for the enslaved people. In 2081, Harrison is a twenty year-old man whose goal is to show the people what they could become if they thought for themselves. This message is quite similar to Vonnegut’s, but Tuttle sends the message in a more emotional and powerful way that touches the viewers. While on stage, Harrison gives a speech about himself and then goes on to really reach into the minds of the audience.
Harrison Bergeron and 2081 completely diverge in Harrison Bergeron’s characterization. Though the initial design for Harrison stays the same, the way the character is presented differ tremendously. In the short story, Harrison Bergeron is a seven-foot tall, fourteen year old, who upon his entry into the story, says, “‘I am the Emperor!’ cried Harrison. ‘Do you hear? I am the Emperor!
“Harrison Bergeron,” written by Kurt Vonnegut at the time of the Cold War, is a short story that takes place in a future world of the year 2081 where the Handicapper General and the law force the beautiful to wear masks, the intelligent to wear earpieces that disrupt their thoughts, and the athletic to wear heavy physical restraints, so that everyone may be equal in the categories of beauty, intelligence, and athleticism; a world where the people “[are] equal in every which way.” (Vonnegut 1) What the many readers of “Harrison Bergeron” seem to misinterpret is that the entire story is an allegory to the political systems of Socialism/Communism and that Vonnegut utilizes symbols in the story that either expose the glaring flaws of left-wing politics or advance the supposedly far-superior ideology of American capitalism. In actuality, Vonnegut’s use of symbols in “Harrison Bergeron,” and the entire story itself is a satire of the common American’s ignorant misunderstandings of left-wing politics at the time of the Cold War. Vonnegut once said at a college commencement speech, “I suggest that you work for a socialist form of government … It isn 't moonbeams to talk of modest plenty for all.
One common afternoon in the year of 2081, when everyone was equal, Hazel and George Bergeron were in their lovely living room watching television. Suddenly, a news reporter with a severe speech impediment came on. After trying many times to say, “Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” he handed it off to a ballerina who read, “Harrison Bergeron, age 14, has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.” However, in this short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut uses irony, shift and mood, and allusion to illustrated haw society would be if everyone was under the law of equality.
The character Harrison, in the story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, has many traits that help aide the theme of the story. Harrison was a strong, good looking, determined young individual with a goal to be different than everyone else. To begin with, Harrison is a good looking 14 year old that is 7ft tall with big goals in life. Harrison is one that was made handicapped by the Handicapper General because he is better than the others.
Cold War Presidents’ Policies of Containment There are often many ways of doing something to get a certain result. For example, if one is traveling to New York they could get there a variety of different ways. They could drive, fly, or take a train. Either way, the desired end result is the same; getting to New York.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be,” Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once said. Considering his work, Harrison Bergeron, that seems to be true, a world that worries about equality, generally a good thing, but leads to totalitarianism. Vonnegut criticizes a political issue, the involvement of the state in the lives of individuals and the challenges of changing modern society we face. The author uses his short story to teach a lesson, but a lesson the reader has to conclude for himself. Vonnegut clearly shows the intention of educating his reader, giving him a chance to draw his own conclusion instead of presenting him with a preconceived solution.
Kurt Vonnegut uses characterization to describe how the characters act in this society. Vonnegut also uses style to show how he uses science fiction and dystopia in “Harrison Bergeron”. The theme demonstrated in “Harrison Bergeron” is equality is not meant to make one person better than another. Kurt Vonnegut in “Harrison Bergeron”, demonstrates that equality based on characteristics is not a good thing for society. Harrison Bergeron is a short story based on the year 2081, where everybody is equal.
The film 2081, directed by Chandler Tuttle is a satirical rendition of a dystopian future where everyone is “finally equal”, attained by the usage of handicaps and the media. Harrison Bergeron, a fugitive and the protagonist, rebels against the propriety standards set by the society. He enters a theatre and enacts a liberating performance, critiquing the society’s enforced equality and opinions. Specifically, Tuttle uses Harrison’s dramatic entrance to show how the media influences society. Furthermore, Harrison’s father, George, typifies an average citizen who conforms to the rules, the antithesis of his son.
In his short story Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut uses an astounding amount of powerful imagery and diction to create the perfect scenes of the dystopian reality he creates. Throughout his use of imagery, Vonnegut creates scenes palpably imagined by readers. He uses underlying humor to lighten scenes of the morbid and macabre nature of the future where being different can be a death sentence. The future that is created in totality by Vonnegut is a dire scene created to be filled with a pastiche of people strung with handicaps to make them to be exactly the same as the “perfectly average citizen.” Vonnegut’s tone throughout is both dreary towards the bizarre and twisted dystopia that makes everyone equal, but is also somewhat insulting to those who do not bear handicaps due to being lacking both mentally and physically.
