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Equality In The Giver And Harrison Bergeron

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Could you imagine if you lived in a community where everyone was equal? Sounds great doesn’t it? Equality isn’t as good as it sounds. In “The Giver” by Lois Lowry everyone in the community was completely the same. They couldn 't see colors and they didn’t have feelings. In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut the community was forced to be the same. The government put them down to the same level of sight,speech,and intelligence. Samuel Johnson once said “It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.” Samuel Johnson’s quote about equality is most related to The Giver and Harrison Bergeron because the quote illustrates a central idea that people don’t …show more content…

In the community, they had a Handicapper General which was the person who was in charge of the handicaps. Handicaps are basically restrictions. If you were strong you would wear weights, if you were pretty you would wear a mask, and if you were smart they would put a buzzer in your ear to scatter away all of your thoughts. Everyone was brought down to the same level and had no freedom to be themselves all because the Handicapper General wanted to make a utopia but in reality, she was making a dystopia. "Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out," said George. (Vonnegut 2). This could cause unhappiness because the people in the community can’t relax or be themselves because they get fined for it. George was also smart so he had a buzzer in his ear that rings different really loud sounds every about 20 seconds. Harrison Bergeron is George’s son and he broke the rules and took off his handicaps then got taken away, from then on he was very dangerous because he was strong and without his handicaps, he was the strongest of all. After he took off his handicaps he was put in prison, but then broke out. The Handicapper General ended up shooting and killing him in the end, but she shot him on live t.v. So equality can cause unhappiness because you can’t be yourself and you are just like everyone else, and you can’t be

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In the short story Harrison Bergeron, equality forces in American society. The characters Harrison and George are both handicapped by the Government to be equal with society. Harrison is taken away from his mother Hazel and father, George because he is against being handicapped to be equal. George believes it has made the world a better place than it was before. Although, George is above average I look up to him because I'm similar to him along with his intelligence, beliefs in equality, and support for the laws.

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In 1984 by George Orwell and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut they show how blind faith in a government leads to the psychological manipulation of the mind to make sure there is absolutely no chance of rebellion. In 1984, the Party and Big Brother are the supreme beings of Oceania and they change the way people think to suit the Party’s needs. The Party has consistently made the citizens feel like they have everything they need and that they are winning all the battles to boost morale. “Returns now completed of the output of all classes of consumption goods show that the standard of living has risen no less than twenty per cent over the past year.” (Orwell 58)

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The Importance of Absolute Equality in “Harrison Bergeron” For hundreds of years, humanity has struggled to define equality, as well implement the concept properly into society. Slaves; prisoners of war; and even in today’s society, we still see people of color treated as lesser than their Caucasian counterparts. Interestingly enough, color is never introduced as a problem in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron”. While most people nowadays would agree that the word “equality” refers to equal opportunity, Vonnegut forces this word to the extremes, and warps its meaning into something much more controlling, to the point where it harms society more than inequality ever did.

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The image of equality “Harrison Bergeron” is making everyone go to the most average, they can be by using handicaps to stop their natural abilities. “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.”

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In “HARRISON BERGERON” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., a society is introduced in which everything is ‘equal’. Everyone has the same intelligence, strength, speed, and is similar to one another in every sense. However, in order for this equality, those who are above average must be handicapped until they have no advantage over their peers. Along with this, George is forced to deal with constant pain, whether it’s gunfire or ball peen hammers in his head. This shows how complete equality is impossible, and the pursuit of it only causes inequality.

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This can be seen when George is discussing the removing some of his handicaps, "If I tried to get away with it,’ said George, ‘then other people 'd get away with it-and pretty soon we 'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else” (Vonnegut 1). They believe the society has created equality, and therefore do not do anything to squander the system. George doesn’t enjoy wearing these ‘handicaps,’ however he feels that he must maintain the system for the greater good. This is also demonstrated in “Repent, Harlequin, said the Ticktockman.” When a woman receives a letter detailing the termination (or soon to be death) of someone with in the family, the narrator describes reaction, “Let it be Marsh, she thought, brutally, realistically, or one of the kids, please dear God, not for me.”

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