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Dystopian Characteristics Of Harrison Bergeron

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Megan Freeman Honors English 10 8/4/2023 I chose to analyze the short dystopian story, Harrison Bergeron and there were many examples of dystopian characteristics. There was control over their freedom and their uniqueness. The characters also lived in what I would consider a dehumanized state and had to meet unreasonable expectations that the government made. It also takes place in a reality city several years in the future. With all of these different characteristics we can assume that this is a dystopian society. To start the government had taken away nearly all of the citizens personality traits. In the story Kurt Vonnegurt wrote, “They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way” (Vonnegut). There was …show more content…

The government made the citizens carry around canvas bags full of birdshot, but the bags were padlocked to their necks. The reason for this is because they wanted everyone to be the same level of athleticism. Which means it would vary from person to person. In the short story there was also a handicap that people above the average intelligence had. They were forced to wear an earpiece that would have a sound, chosen by the government, go off every 20 seconds. This would essentially get rid of any advanced thoughts they were having. Except not everyone had this handicap. For example the story says, “Hazel saw him wince. Having no mental handicap herself, she had to ask George what the latest sound had been” (Vonnegut). Having a handicap alone is very dehumanizing, but being one of the only people with a mental handicap is so much …show more content…

Most pieces of dystopian literature are in the future after the world crumbles and a new government is formed. That is exactly what I think happened in this story. Its the future and now everybody is the exact same and the government has large amounts of power. This is very similar to several other dystopian stories. The reason I know this is because Kurt Vonnegurt blatantly states, “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal” (Vonnegut). It also makes me wonder several things. Were people different just before this time period? What lead to everybody becoming the same? Something had to have happened to lead to this

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