Harrison Bergeron Compare And Contrast Essay

According to Oxford Languages a Dystopia is an imagined state or society in which there is a great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic. Although the plotlines of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and “Examination Day” differ in many ways, the two share a core theme; nightmarish and dystopian futures.

The story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut was first published in “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” in 1961. In the story Harrison Bergeron is the main character with many side characters such as George, Hazel, Dianna Moon Glampers, a ballerina, and more. In the story they want everyone to be equal. For example if you were above average in anything you had to wear handicaps so you would

When Harrison was 14 years old he was taken from his family by the government and thrown into jail. The government knew Harrison was a threat so they “had”, too. Then Harrison escaped jail, tore off his handicaps, and went on stage where the ballerinas were performing on live tv. He gave a speech to the audience about how the government was controlling them and how great someone could be without them. After a short period of time he grabbed a ballerina, tore off her handicaps, and showed everyone how great they could be without handicaps. While Harrison and the ballerina were performing, Dianna Moon Glampers, the handicap general, came in and shot him and the ballerina because she did not want them to influence society to take off their handicaps as well. After all

In the story Richard Jordan also known as Dickie is the main character with Mr. and Mrs. Jordan as other side characters. Dickie just turned 12 years old and on your 12th birthday in the story you must take a test for the government. That whole day Mr. and Mrs. Jordan avoids talking about the test and whenever it is brought up they act anxious and brush us off. After a short period of time Mr. and Mrs. Jordan brings Dickie to take the government intelligence test. While they wait in the bare room anxiously, Dickie is then called back into another empty room. Dickie walks into a room where this man gives him a thick, peppermint tasting drink to make sure he only tells the truth on the test. Since Dickie could be taking a good while in the testing room they went home. After a while at home waiting, they finally got the dreaded phone call. The voice on the telephone said that Dickie’s intelligence is higher than the government regulations. Then the voice asks if they wish to have his body interred by the government or would they like a private burial. All throughout the beginning of the story Dickie would keep saying, “Why Dad?” This emphasizes that Dickie is a smart kid because he is curious and always asks why wanting to know