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How Does Harrison Bergeron Create A Dystopian Society

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Political economics can play a large role into understanding a society. The relationship between economics, institutional development and the relationship with laws and regulation, one can better identify utopian and dystopian societies. In the short story Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, there is a direct relationship between the theme of governmental power and the state of society. The relationship between the political economic statuses of a society and governmental power is one way to determine if a society is a utopia, dystopia. By focusing in analyzing the laws and regulation and its impact economically, one can come to the conclusion that the text, the society of Harrison Bergeron, is a depiction of a totalitarian society. …show more content…

The short story, Harrison Bergeron, is set in 2081 United States causing there to be many changes to the Constitution. In the futuristic United States main focus is equality to develop a utopian society. The text states that the “equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of … United States Handicapper General” (Vonnegut). Constitutional amendments are typically due to evolution of a society. The change in the American society clearly demonstrated in the quote: “Everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law”(Vonnegut). The quotation is used to show how equality is a key party of the 2081 American society. Governmental regulation of concept of equality can cause both positive and negative outcomes to a society. Intervention by the government has …show more content…

The end of the short story also emphasizes the negative effect of handicaps. Due to their mental handicaps, George and Hazel are not aware of the events occurring nor are they able to react to what is happening around them. The handicaps make the citizens be dependent on the government. The impact of institution, like the handicap police , and its lack of regulation ,caused by the dependence of the people to the government, shows that the society is neither a utopian or dystopian but a

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Satire In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

2251 Words | 10 Pages

The Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, shoots down Harrison and warns the others “they [have] ten seconds to get their handicaps back on” (Vonnegut 230). Though the plot of the story is thin, it satirically debates what types of equality are best for the

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Role Of Government In Harrison Bergeron

513 Words | 3 Pages

In modern society, people have seen many different types of government and made movies concerning them. The question that human kind keeps on asking is how much control the government should have over the people since it affects people in all aspects: economic, political, social, environmental, and others. In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the government in the science-fiction society controls the citizens’ freedom in order to remain in power. Kurt Vonnegut describes how the government takes over the citizens’ every move by describing the mechanisms in place such as not educating the people and the laws passed to establish control over them and to end all revolts. For example, Vonnegut describes how “the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments… [of] the Constitution… [leads] to the unceasing

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Examples Of Dystopia In Harrison Bergeron

502 Words | 3 Pages

There are many reasons on why the story of Harrison Bergeron is a dystopian story. One main reason is because the way the government is ran meaning it is a bureaucratic control type government. What this means is it is controlled by mindless bureaucracy through relentless regulations and government officials. This is shown in the part of the story where Harrison was shot mid air by a government official or known as Handicap General. Another way bureaucratic control can be seen is that no one has any free will.

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Single Paragraph Essay: Harrison Bergeron

208 Words | 1 Pages

Equality means everyone has equalrights, not that nobody is better than anyone else

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Examples Of Dystopia In Harrison Bergeron

873 Words | 4 Pages

Our decisions in life have always led us to choose the path we want to go and embark the risks and traps it sets upon us. These decisions can be seen in Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron." This dystopian world has achieved the one thing that seems impossible in today's society, making everybody equal. With everybody finally equal in this fictional world, nobody was better or above average from one another. Peace relives again, until one day the son of George and Hazel Bergeron was sent to prison and later on escaped.

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Harrison Bergeron Dystopian

451 Words | 2 Pages

“A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another” -Buddha The two dystopian stories “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and Anthem by Ayn Rand, are expressed to promote that everyone being exactly the same isn’t good for our society. “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and Anthem by Ayn Rand are both dystopian pieces, their portrayal of family and love differs greatly. The novella “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut represents somewhat, of a healthy family.

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Examples Of Social Injustice In Harrison Bergeron

492 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story Harrison Bergeron social injustice lies at the heart of the conflict. Vonnegut paints the picture of what seems like equality but it’s not. Throughout this satirical and dystopian story the author tries to convey how society forces people to lose their individuality, yet depicts how some individuals try to rebel to it. Vonnegut highlights this aspect by attributing to each character of the story a handicap with which they are forced to cohabit obliging everybody to be equal and how television can be utilized for persuasion. Harrison Bergeron is set in 2081 in the United States.

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How Does Harrison Bergeron Affect Society

421 Words | 2 Pages

Society has often affected the way an individual portrays themselves and their thought process. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron,” we see one of the main characters George affected by the governmental views of how America should be in 2081. This short story depicts a society where everyone is equal, and if not they are given handicaps to make them equal. George Bergeron gets not only one, but two handicaps because he is smart and also strong. George is a very cautious person, especially when he starts to analyze the smallest of things.

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Compare And Contrast The Pedestrian And Harrison Bergeron

906 Words | 4 Pages

George and Hazel see this on T.V. what's more, don't understand it is their own child being shot due to their handicaps. In the second story, "The Pedestrian" Ray Bradbury depicts a man, Leonard Mead,

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Harrison Bergeron Dictatorship Analysis

729 Words | 3 Pages

Sometimes a utopia can be a dictatorship in disguise. Therefore, in Harrison Bergeron’s world it is a dystopian dictatorship. In actuality, it is a dictatorship which is a form of government where a group of countries (or Country) is ruled by a small group or political entity, and exercised through various mechanisms to ensure the entity's power remains strong. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut the people live in a utopia, but in comparison to the United states it is actually a dystopia and a modern day dictatorship. Harrison Bergeron’s world is compared to a modern day dictatorship.

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Dystopian Characteristics Of Harrison Bergeron

652 Words | 3 Pages

Megan Freeman Honors English 10 8/4/2023 I chose to analyze the short dystopian story, Harrison Bergeron and there were many examples of dystopian characteristics. There was control over their freedom and their uniqueness. The characters also lived in what I would consider a dehumanized state and had to meet unreasonable expectations that the government made. It also takes place in a reality city several years in the future.

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Literary Analysis Of Harrison Bergeron

1823 Words | 8 Pages

Kurt Vonnegut uses characterization to describe how the characters act in this society. Vonnegut also uses style to show how he uses science fiction and dystopia in “Harrison Bergeron”. The theme demonstrated in “Harrison Bergeron” is equality is not meant to make one person better than another. Kurt Vonnegut in “Harrison Bergeron”, demonstrates that equality based on characteristics is not a good thing for society. Harrison Bergeron is a short story based on the year 2081, where everybody is equal.

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Setting Of Harrison Bergeron

655 Words | 3 Pages

The protagonist is the Handicapper General. The supporting characters are George and Hazel. Who are in the living room, and they give us clues, on the status, of society. They have to be reliable since every person is equal. The tone of the story is consistent since the narrator is not participating in the story.

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Satire In Harrison Bergeron

589 Words | 3 Pages

George, Hazel’s husband, has been handicapped with two things: an earphone that administers a sound every 20 seconds and a handicap bag filled with forty-seven pounds of birdshot. While this might be a lot, George continues to follow the law. “Two years in prison and a two thousand dollar fine for every ball I take out… I don’t call that a bargain” (40). Hazel fails at convincing her husband to rest his handicaps because George fears the government and their capabilities. This being said, Vonnegut uses characterization to display George’s loss of the will to fight.

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Government Control In Harrison Bergeron

1055 Words | 5 Pages

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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