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Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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The year is 2028, and everyone is equal. The government issues handicaps to make everyone limited and equal; they believe equality and limitation are better. Everyone having the same motives, talents, and capabilities would be a problem in today's world which is shown in the story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, JR.

The government imposes strict restrictions on the citizens allowing them to be less functional. "A buzzer sounded in George's head. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm." (Vonnegut pg2) George was a fast thinker and a more accelerated learner than most. His handicap sends sounds to him constantly, making him forget everything and giving him short thoughts. George's character is often clueless in …show more content…

Imagine if you were the same as this person, everything about you was the same, from your thoughts to your physical appearance. In "Harrison Bergeron," this is precisely what is happening. The handicaps limit each person from being the same and thinking the same. Nelsan Ellis says, "Being different gives the world color." Being different allows people to be diverse and have different opinions, ideas, and motives. Being different makes it easier for people to get along. Without diversity, the world would be dull and sad. It also helps the world develop in every aspect of today. Without different opinions and ideas, the world would not be as advanced as it is today. The world would be slow, with limitations, from cutting-edge technology to businesses created by people. And underdeveloped. One of the first lines in the story says, "Nobody was smarter than anybody else, Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger than anybody else." (Vonnegut Pg2) This is what the handicapped do and what the government and the handicapper general think is good for …show more content…

The story of Harrison Bergeron has tons of figurative language. For example, all types of Irony, according to Core.ac.uk, "Irony emphasizes the difference between two states of affairs, making plain which is true. In the story, many sentences and events mean that he strongly opposes the government, which adheres to a system of equality or egalitarianism." Dramatic Irony is also used when the characters do not know what is happening, but the reader

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in Harrison Bergeron they solve the problem of inequality by giving people handicaps. These would restrict people who were prettier, smarter, or stronger than average. They censored their knowledge and their thoughts specifically with a brain handicap that was "tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep [smart] people…from taking unfair advantage of their brains." (Vonnegut 1)

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Handicapped Citizens One can only imagine living in a community where everyone is the same. Where the norm, not being bright and beautiful, but instead being dull and average. This is something that is very prominent in both the story and the movie. The story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, includes many ideas about how the government is trying to control the masses of people by handicapping them with devices used as headbands.

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In the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegg, people live in a world where people have disabilities to make them equal “They are equal every which way. Nobody is smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” At first, in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegg, Harrison escapes from jail.

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963 Words | 4 Pages

Imagine the perfect society. Secure, honest, balanced, organized, and equal. Well, in this story, the society is all of those things; but the government takes equality to a whole new level. Citizens are forced to wear “handicaps” that make them be deprived of their strength, thoughts, and even the ability to see. A man named Harrison had finally had enough, so he decided to rebel, but the little support he had diminished his whole plan.

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Nathan Madrid Mr. Daryl Lemos ENGL-1094 22 May, 2023 Forcing Equity and Leading Oppression Equality, or equity, is something that we as a society have been striving to achieve since we were first created. The reason why we still haven't achieved that equity is because each of us has our own definitions of what it means to be equal. Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, written in 1961 depicts exactly that problem. In Vonnegut’s dystopian, futuristic society, everyone deemed above average is given handicaps in order to make sure they have no advantage over another, and they face drastic consequences if they disobey or take off their handicaps. The punishments for taking these handicaps off in the story outlines the danger of complete equity.

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507 Words | 3 Pages

To Much Equality How could there ever be too much equality? In the story “ Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut was taken place in 2018, where it was a complete collective society. The government installed mental handicaps and physical handicaps to try to make everyone equal to have the same, average intelligence level. George who has the mental handicap in he’s right he doesn’t have any handicap are the parents of Harrison Bergeron who was taken to jail over the accusation of plotting to overthrow the government.

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994 Words | 4 Pages

Vonnegut shows the theme of equality throughout the story “Harrison Bergeron,” describing that complete equality is impossible to achieve, it can be counterproductive and make it less challenging to gain power over others, and equal does not always mean fair. The handicappers ensure that everyone is at the same below average level so that nobody is offended or insecure about

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626 Words | 3 Pages

For instance, in the story, Kurt Vonnegut writes, “Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps.” This means that Harrison had to wear more weight and also be tortured more than others who even have handicaps. This also shows that the handicaps don't make people equal, because when they see the handicaps someone is wearing, they can tell their strengths. “She must've been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous. And it was to see that she was the strongest and the most graceful of all dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men.”

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986 Words | 4 Pages

They face equality in every aspect of their lives, from physical to mental equality. The robust ones had weights making it so they could not move smoothly; the ones with perfect vision had glasses to give them headaches and make their vision worse; the intelligent had radios in their ears that broadcasted noises at random times in the day, causing the listener to lose focus. The Handicapper General was in charge of handing out the handicaps, and the government threw anyone who opposed the amendments or their handicaps in prison. This idea worked until Harrison Bergeron rebelled against the government. He rebelled because he did not believe it was fair that he had every handicap that others had and more.

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517 Words | 3 Pages

It is just as unfair if not more unfair to put a handicap on someone who has greater strengths than another. When Harrison Bergeron stood up for individuality, society shut him down. In the real world, society shuts down those who speak out for individuality by shaming them or making them outcasts. Kurt Vonnegut created a universe that put the rules of society before the life of an individual. People were willing to stand and watch another human being be killed for accepting their individuality.

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290 Words | 2 Pages

In the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, the government wants everyone to be equal, so no one feels inferior. They make people that are more intelligent, athletic or attractive where handicaps such as heavy weights, masks, and a mental handicap radio . Harrison Bergeron is in jail because the government thinks he will try to overthrow it, which he ends up attempting to. He is killed by the government along with a ballerina because they take off all their handicaps and disobeyed. Even though he tries to do good by defying the government, he ends up achieving nothing but his death.

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460 Words | 2 Pages

Since George had so many handicaps and Hazel had none, the two were constantly jealous of each other. This jealousy created unhappiness to an extent that defeated the original purpose of attempting total equality, to make everyone happy. As well, the fact that certain people have to deal with the pain caused by the handicaps creates another type of inequality, where they live a much more strenuous life in order to be considered ‘equal.’ The society that has been designed to be completely and totally equal in “Harrison Bergeron,” proves that it is impossible for every single person to be equal in every possible

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450 Words | 2 Pages

The story is set in the year 2081, when the government has implemented extreme measures to ensure that society remains equal, including handicaps and "handicap radios" that force people to experience physical and mental distractions that prevent them from thinking and achieving greatness. For example, the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron, is described as a "brilliant and handsome" individual, but he must wear a "handicap radio" and a "forty-seven-pound handicap bag" that, as the narrator states, "dragged him down and sapped his strength." This physical handicap serves as a metaphor for society's attempt to limit the potential

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660 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. relies on the use of irony to indicate where our country will stand once we have gained total equality amongst each other. The theme in “Harrison Bergeron” is that the government cannot enforce equality within the people. The author creates a fictional visualization of the future in the year 2081, where the government controls the people and tortures them in order to maintain “equal opportunity” in their world to prove why it is impossible to achieve absolute equality in the world. Vonnegut dives into a whole other level of uniformity in Harrison Bergeron by focusing on eliminating advantages in appearance, intelligence, strength, and other unique abilities rather than focusing on

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349 Words | 2 Pages

No matter how many handicaps you put on someone they aren’t going to change. It’s kind of like trying to cover up beauty with a mask or make-up. Handicaps have no value in making anyone equal. Although equality is needed, no one in “Harrison Bergeron” is solely based on appearance and how smart you are. Equality is treating everyone one with the same amount of respect so therefore, no one in this short story is

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