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Harrison Bergeron: The Limitations Of Excessive Legislation

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The “Harrison Bergeron”: The limitations of excessive legislation The “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is a great work of satirical science fiction. It describes the equality has finally settled in the society by limiting people’s development, especially for someone who is intelligent. The story is worth people thinking about the phenomenon of extreme equality in the society today. In general, excessive legislation plays a huge important role to promote equality, notwithstanding it indirectly brings huge burden to the people on the basis of keeping equality. Firstly, the excessive legislation keeps equality basically by concerned people’s execution. This point can be provided by the situation of the laws, which are monitored by Handicapper General: “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else ” (Vonnegut 1). This action actually realizes the equality among people (just about the physical and mental development). Like when George wears the handicap radio in his ear, which is used to limit his thoughts (Vonnegut 1). Through this text, the evidence clearly tells there are competitions everywhere …show more content…

Even, Harrison passed away unfortunately. There’s only Hazel provokes the most burden of families. She not only works for the family but also sturdily accepts the disappearance of his son. Not just her, almost all families have the same experience. Actually, the society has gradually become cruel and indifferent. Certainly, follow the law, people have no choice to rebel the government. The only thing to do is to accept the reality and the heavy burden. And the society can have a slow progress in development because of it. So in this way, the excessive legislation indeed is obviously dangerous for people depended on the quality. Therefore, it is difficult for a society to develop

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The theme of “Harrison Bergeron” is the danger of complete equality.

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This government made everyone became handicapped so that everyone is the same and equal and no one is better than the others. Vonnegut’s view on equality is very judgemental and selective. Society these days, pressures

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Single Paragraph Essay “ Harrison Bergeron ” “ Harrison Bergeron ,” written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. focuses on equality — physically andmentally — strongly controlled by the government in the year 2081; the beautiful are forced tolook ugly, the physically skilled are required to wear weights. With these handicaps makingeveryone so equal, the world became very different, odd, and average. But the government hasno right or reason to push the whole world to be “…equal every which way.” (203) To suppress someone’s natural looks or physical talents is not only wrong to natural human rights, but it is also illegal, and for very good reason: everyone is different.

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Equality comes when each person has the same opportunities and rights as every other in their country, state, et cetera. Some authors in their writing like to challenge the idea of equality and the boundaries of how far some governments, fictional or not, are willing to go for their own idea of equality. The societies in Anthem and “Harrison Bergeron” can be compared in their “successes” by making everyone think they are equal, and their failures in which they are not able to keep everyone contained. The novella Anthem provides a better criticism of government because it goes into more depth about how the citizens are not held back physically by the state, but mostly by their own upbringing and beliefs. These societies, which do differentiate in many ways, successes’ compare in that they are both able to complete the task of making everyone think they are equal.

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One common afternoon in the year of 2081, when everyone was equal, Hazel and George Bergeron were in their lovely living room watching television. Suddenly, a news reporter with a severe speech impediment came on. After trying many times to say, “Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” he handed it off to a ballerina who read, “Harrison Bergeron, age 14, has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.” However, in this short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut uses irony, shift and mood, and allusion to illustrated haw society would be if everyone was under the law of equality.

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Equality is a great idea that we should strive for and achieve; however, being made equal physically and mentally by the government could be very unfair. People should still have characteristics that make us different. One can be diverse but still equal to his neighbor. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s use of point of view, conflict, and imagery in his short story “Harrison Bergeron,” illustrates how difficult living in a world where everyone is the same would be.

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However, people do not have to conform to the standards set by society. In Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, society forced people to be alike, in every way possible. No one person better than another. However, it shows that handicapping those who have excelled in an area of life or have greater ability than another is an injustice.

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In this short story, everything has to do with equality. No one can be more intelligent, stronger, or more attractive. Handicaps are making people unequal. People in this short story isn’t equal because the most intelligent people have to suffer because of the handicaps. “Every twenty minutes or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantages of their brain” (page 2).

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In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron”, he explores this equality idea in a in 2081 setting where every man, woman, and child are on the same level of intelligence. Although in Kurt Vonnegut’s story the government is appearing to want equality, in all reality they really just want power and control. To begin the Harrison Bergeron story, George and Hazel Bergeron’s son Harrison is taken away to be put in prison. Following this, they live in a society where “nobody was smarter than anybody else”(Vonnegut 1387), everyone is forced to wear head capps and follow the governments every rule.

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