ipl-logo

How Does Harrison Bergeron Represent A Dystopian Society

647 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Dystopian society of harrison bergeron

Harrison Bergeron
“Harrison Bergeron” is a short story in which the author, Kurt Vonnegut, represents a dystopian society through complete equality and its dysfunctional effects. The talented writer, who was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1922, shows much use of technology, science, and social behavior to develop and impact his short stories. Vonnegut’s love for writing began during his teenage years’ involvement with a daily newspaper at Shortridge High School. Through the connections built with writing, Vonnegut attended Cornell University in 1941 and wrote for the Cornell Sun as he studied biochemistry. Although he lacked interest in biochemistry, it may have sparked his ties to the brilliant science fiction works he has produced over …show more content…

As the setting’s principal components rely on the lack of individualism and media portrayal, the plot functions to complete the dystopian world. “Harrison Bergeron’s” society cripple’s civilization through eradicating competition due to its obsession of equality. The governmental control, through physical and mental handicaps, restricts the potential for characters to exhibit their own personality, skills, and uniqueness. From the presentation of media, Vonnegut utilizes technology to desensitize facets of the real world to control his …show more content…

As Alvarez put it, “the negative consequences of television, such as encouraging people to not think, forms a basis for the rest of the story” (Alvarez, para. 5). As the focused characters, Hazel and George, begin to think of a life with no handicaps, they rapidly change their minds, as George says “we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?” (Vonnegut, pg. 1182) This reference to the “dark ages” supports their belief of uniqueness and competing causing negative and detrimental contributions to

Show More
Related
712 Words | 3 Pages

Now onto how Vonnegut,Jr uses the concept of ‘government in total control’ and the way he develops his characters. Harrison Bergeron is a short story that sets place in the future just like The Hunger Games but instead of humans being used as killing machine to kill others to win a game in this world we are all equal. You're probably thinking that this may not seem that bad but in reality this is horrific. The government is this books uses it power to put handicaps on other to make everyone the same. If you had any hint of beauty,there goes a bag over your face to mask it.

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

“Advancements” in Society Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury wrote Harrison Bergeron and The Pedestrian to comment on changes in society occurring at the time. Both Vonnegut and Bradbury’s short stories demonstrated dystopian literature. A dystopian society is a society where the government has total control and life is unpleasant. In Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut showed a society where advanced people were given ‘handicaps’ in order to create a totally equal society. The main character, Harrison Bergeron, rebelled against this society and in the end suffered the consequences.

Read More
376 Words | 2 Pages

Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron is considered a dystopian literature due to its demonstration of the attributes of a typical dystopian society through the categories Types of Dystopian Controls and The Dystopian Protagonist. Under the category Dystopian Controls more specifically the Bureaucratic control is shown throughout the short story showing a dystopian society. The people in the society follow the orders of the government blindly without any hesitation or resistance. The government says everyone must be equal in every way so that's what the people do like demonstrated by George, “He was required by law to wear it at all time... Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from

Read More
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
709 Words | 3 Pages

Vonnegut and Bradbury’s warning against the dangers of conformity and equality from their stories is that these substantives lead to the loss of individuality, making the government too powerful. Conformity and total equality in both stories show one of the drawbacks to dystopian societies—citizens can’t live their lives freely and individually. Without individual thoughts and opinions, humans are not their unique selves. In Harrison Bergeron, George was daydreaming on the couch when, “He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-one-gun salute in his

Read More
983 Words | 4 Pages

Today’s society is molded by the uniqueness and individuality of one’s self. The idea that total equality can generate a perfect society is explored in Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” in which the strong

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

To begin, “Harrison Bergeron” starts off in the future, also stating that “everybody was finally equal” (Vonnegut 1). This small part of the story is actually very important in the, seeing how the whole story revolves around the idea of equality. Vonnegut’s main message

Read More
165 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
427 Words | 2 Pages

In a lot of stories, the setting is a fairly decent world. However, this is not the case in other stories. Many stories are set in cruel and unforgiving societies, where certain people, or even the average citizen, are treated with injustice. This is what is seen as a dystopia, an imaginary setting where many people are unhappy, due to being treated unfairly. In certain dystopian settings, the state of the society is caused by a corrupt government controlling the laws of the community.

Read More
808 Words | 4 Pages

Literature is commonly used as a tool by authors to portray their opinion or perspective on certain topics. Kurt Vonnegut and his narrative “Harrison Bergeron” is the epitome of this notion, where he crafts the dystopian condition of total equality. Although such a short reading, the impact of short story “Harrison Bergeron” undoubtedly sparks inquiry among readers. Vonnegut’s selection of details, imagery, and use of language and syntax expresses his true writing style as well as his perspective on total equality. Vonnegut opens “Harrison Bergeron” with details of his vision of the United States under total equality.

Read More
1735 Words | 7 Pages

Harrison Bergeron, a story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, shows a society where everyone is the same, no one is- or allowed to be, better than anyone else. The story takes place in a futuristic society during 2081. The main two people in this story are Hazel and George Bergeron. George, along with most people, has sacks filled with birdshot, and a handicap radio.

Read More
653 Words | 3 Pages

. Falling into the category of dystopian, “Harrison Bergeron” displays many different aspects that call forth this classification. Typically displaying characteristics such as an unnaturally dark setting, an uneasy and often oppressive atmosphere, and usually rebellion, dystopian literature portrays some of the worst possible scenarios for the future, should we continue to follow whatever path the author sees the world on. Within the story, an unsettling atmosphere that is both dark and oppressed is portrayed throughout the exposition. Descriptions of the setting and how equal the people were in that society, especially pertaining to the handicaps help tremendously in creating this form of atmosphere.

Read More
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.

Read More
557 Words | 3 Pages

In his short story Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut uses an astounding amount of powerful imagery and diction to create the perfect scenes of the dystopian reality he creates. Throughout his use of imagery, Vonnegut creates scenes palpably imagined by readers. He uses underlying humor to lighten scenes of the morbid and macabre nature of the future where being different can be a death sentence. The future that is created in totality by Vonnegut is a dire scene created to be filled with a pastiche of people strung with handicaps to make them to be exactly the same as the “perfectly average citizen.” Vonnegut’s tone throughout is both dreary towards the bizarre and twisted dystopia that makes everyone equal, but is also somewhat insulting to those who do not bear handicaps due to being lacking both mentally and physically.

Read More
1421 Words | 6 Pages

Abortion is the process by which a person intentionally ends the pregnancy by the procedure of removing the embryo or fetus from the womb. At times abortion can also take place on its own. These are known as spontaneous abortion of miscarriage. On the other hand abortions that are carried out purposely are known as induced operations. In the United States there are two most common methods of abortion.

Read More

More about How Does Harrison Bergeron Represent A Dystopian Society

Related Topics

Open Document