Claire Marsh Poppink English 5th 7 October 2014 Harrison Thunder’s Conflict Often, in stories, strong characters have conflicts with others. Conflicts with society create lots of tension in a story. Most times, this type of conflict creates a victimized feeling for the protagonist. A sort of “the world is against me” feel. The reader generally feels pity for the poor, unfortunate protagonist. Two excellent examples are short stories that are set in the future. In “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury and ”Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut have similar conflicts against society. “Who knows what he’s done to Time, to History!” (Bradbury 44). In “A Sound of Thunder,” Eckles is trying to escape a bad day. He goes back in time to leave his problems for a while, but he makes a mistake. From the beginning of the story, Eckles is portrayed as the victim. He is yelled at and scolded. By the end of his adventure, Eckles loses it. He decides that he no longer wants to shoot a dinosaur. The protagonist blindly runs through the forest; Eckles strays from the set path as he attempts to find his way back to the Time Machine. …show more content…
In Vonnegut’s version of the future, people are given handicaps for being different. If someone is smart, pretty, or talented in any way, the government will give them something to cover that talent. Harrison has been given an abundance of handicaps. He has huge glasses and earphones to hinder his mind. In addition, Harrison is forced to wear scrap metal at all times: he has been forced to wear a mask, shave his eyebrows, and wear a mask to hide his good looks. He is targeted just because he is different and talented. At the end of “Harrison Bergeron,” the protagonist is killed by an official, and Harrison’s parents, who are watching on the television at home, barely react. The entire society is against