ipl-logo

How Does Harrison Bergeron Create A Dystopian Society

1194 Words5 Pages

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

Show More
Related

Single Paragraph Essay: Harrison Bergeron

208 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

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

Read More

Craft Move In Harrison Bergeron

792 Words | 4 Pages

Craft Moves for “Harrison Bergeron” Human beings all have different talents and skill sets. They have different levels of intelligence, attractiveness, and activities in which they excel. In “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, the government attempts to make everyone totally and irrevocably ‘equal’ by using handicaps.

Read More

Examples Of Dystopia In Harrison Bergeron

502 Words | 3 Pages

A quote from the text “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out” This is implying that no matter how small or large the issue is the government uses bureaucratic control, they use money to control the people to not taking off their handicaps. Another area in the story they mention to take out a few beads and George says no because he does not want everyone competing like how they did in the old days. The government brainwashed them into seeing this lifestyle good instead of the old lifestyle their parents or grandparents have

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Harrison Bergeron And Brave New World Essay

629 Words | 3 Pages

The Candor of An Authoritarian Government Controlled Utopia Government control affects lives daily, some more than others. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut are both satirical writings that take place in the future all over the world. In both writings, the government have completely disenfranchised citizens in attempt to create an utopia. Aldous Huxley’s satirical novel Brave New World and Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical short story “Harrison Bergeron” both depict the disenfranchisement and ultimate disabling of citizens by the government in effort to create an “Utopia”. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and “Gaza Rebuilding Awaits Palestinian Government Control” an article by Daily Sabah, foreshadowing is used to predict the possible effects on citizens and outcomes of certain acts of governmental control.

Read More

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.

Read More

13th Amendment Equality

901 Words | 4 Pages

“Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice. suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Based on the Constitution, equality has the possibility of being achieved because amendments can be placed in order to get closer to it. Also the Constitution has shown no discrimination to a certain group of people, and instead has tried to push the idea of equality to the next level. Although people, in the past, have been through many harsh events, the Constitution has always made a way to repair its mistakes.

Read More

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,

Read More

Harrison Bergeron Dictatorship Analysis

729 Words | 3 Pages

His world is a dystopia because the people in the story are living in fear. But in a utopia everyone is suppose to be happy and it is supposed to be perfect for everyone. In their world every one is miserable and no one is free to do what they wish. George can not come home and enjoy an ice cold beer without hearing that dreadful ringing sound in his ear from his handicap. The people are so tired of these handicaps they are trying to figure out ways to relive themselves.

Read More

Literary Analysis Of Harrison Bergeron

1823 Words | 8 Pages

People who are not equal get handicapped in a way. George and Hazel Bergeron are the parents of Harrison, who was taken away from them when he was fourteen by the Handicapper General. George and Hazel are not even sad that their son was taken away. Hazel has average intelligence so she can only think of things in short bursts. On the other

Read More

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.

Read More

More about How Does Harrison Bergeron Create A Dystopian Society

Related Topics

Open Document