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Satire In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

435 Words2 Pages

"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is a satirical short story in which Vonnegut implies, if society interprets equality literally, there would be no significance between humans. The protagonist Harrison has escaped from prison and his parents Hazel and George are watching the program he appears upon, as he insists he is an emperor and the first female to rebel will be his empress. Following this rant he discards his handicaps making him appear god like. Soon after, the Handicapper General kills the emperor and his empress with a "double-barrelled ten-gauge shotgun"(pg. 64). Harrison depicts as an exaggeration as his "appearance was Halloween and hardware"(pg. 62). The government considers him as "a genius and an athlete"(pg. 61) and "is under …show more content…

Hazel is watching his death,"she fired twice, and the emperor and the empress were dead before they hit the floor"(pg. 64). Hazel has little to no reaction, she sobs for a minute then George questions why she is crying, but she can not recall what she had seen as it was something very sad on television. As Hazel is of average intelligence it justifies why she could not quickly remember what she had seen. Nevertheless, her reaction is inhumane and insensitive as she suggests "that one was a doozy"(pg. 65) because the parents can not see what unfair and cruel world they livers they view it as fair. Equality blinds Hazel and George, failing to comprehend they are being deprived of their freedom and individuality. Harrison attempts to overthrow the rule of the government but he never has the chance at unseating the government because the laws are too powerful. "Harrison Bergeron" captures achieving equality, if we give up individuality and freedom, which are two things people fight to acquire. I believe freedom helps express our individuality as it is not worth giving up for total equality in the

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Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1961. It is often taken at face value as a cautionary tale of the dangers of forcing equality on society. Equality is essentially achieved by government issued handicaps, which hinder people’s talents, as imposed by the amendments of the American Constitution. The protagonist, Harrison Bergeron, rejects these handicaps. He declares himself Emperor and orders others to follow him.

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There are many ways an author can convey the message of any story. Elements such as the Plot, Conflict, Character/Characterization, Setting, Symbolism, Narration, and Imagery are used in these ways. For example, in the In the story "Harrison Bergeron", the author Kurt Vonnegut uses the characterization, and the conflict to communicate the message to the reader that Uniformity and strict laws lead to a loss of personal freedom and individuality. Vonnegut uses the element of characterization.

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Being the Same Being equal by the law and being equal are two very different things. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut uses a satire to make fun of a future in which everybody is equal, in every which way. In the story, Harrison was rebelling against the government and how they handicap people, so that they are all at the same level mentally and physically. In this society, the people in the government are the only people that are not handicapped, or supposed to be handicapped, and they intend to keep it that way. They will go to great lengths to keep their overruling power as it is shown in this part of the story, “It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled

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“Harrison Bergeron” is a short fiction written by Kurt Vonnegut, the story is set in the year 2081, and it talks about a futuristic society where all people are equal. No one is smarter, beautiful or stronger than the other, and if someone happens to be better than the others they find themselves compelled by The United States Handicapper General to wear what they call “handicaps” in order to bring down their abilities to the most basic levels as the others. Throughout the story, Vonnegut expresses a strong and vigorous political and social criticism of some historical events in the US during 1960s such as the Cold War and Communism, television and American Culture and Civil Rights Movement. “Harrison Bergeron” was published in 1961 during that time several events were happening around the world in general and in the US in specific which was engaged in a series of political and economic crisis with the communist Soviet Union know as The

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Kurt Vonnegut may have either missed the interpretation by a long shot or he may have pinned the tail right on the donkey, but no one will know till that time comes. Will we be like Harrison and try to make a stand for ourselves and live our lives the way we deserve, or will we be like George and just let the government walk all over us and not have a care in the world about what happens to us? This story is either trying to tell us that we need to have all these rules to keep us in check or it is trying to tell us to push against the government and take control. Cited Sources “Harrison Bergeron.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Feb.

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Obviously an extreme case scenario, this element is brought into play through the ridiculousness of the laws and amendments that brought this society to its current place. Also, another obvious element of rebellion is portrayed in all of Harrisons actions and the descriptions of his previous actions, and although the rebellion may be small and short lived, it is still a present element that classifies “Harrison Bergeron” as a dystopian story. Thus, many elements come together within the

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In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. relies on the use of irony to indicate where our country will stand once we have gained total equality amongst each other. The theme in “Harrison Bergeron” is that the government cannot enforce equality within the people. The author creates a fictional visualization of the future in the year 2081, where the government controls the people and tortures them in order to maintain “equal opportunity” in their world to prove why it is impossible to achieve absolute equality in the world. Vonnegut dives into a whole other level of uniformity in Harrison Bergeron by focusing on eliminating advantages in appearance, intelligence, strength, and other unique abilities rather than focusing on

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Kurt Vonnegut uses dramatic irony in ridiculous ways in “Harrison Bergeron”. Dramatic irony is when the characters in the story do not know what is going on but the reader does know. In almost every part of the story, the characters are unaware of what is really happening because of everyone being equal. The characters have accepted and embraced the idea that it is good for everyone in society to be equal in intelligence, appearance, strength and speed. George doesn’t even care that his intelligence is being controlled by the radio in his ears.

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