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The differences between Harrison Bergeron and the Pedestrian
The differences between Harrison Bergeron and the Pedestrian
The differences between Harrison Bergeron and the Pedestrian
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Man Can Never Be Equal “Life is about family and technology” (Mark Goddard). This quote was chosen because family and technology both play a vital part in both stories Anthem and Harrison Bergeron. A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia and is usually characterized by a totalitarian society. Totalitarian society is a society in which nearly every aspect of public and private behavior is regulated by the state.
“They were not simple folk, you see, though they were happy. But we do not say the words of cheer, much anymore”. The authors Vonnegut and LeGuin expresses the importance of individuality in the stories “Harrison Bergeron” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”. “Harrison Bergeron” is about how the government makes society “equal” by using gadgets known as handicappers to stop the people from thinking freely. But there’s one person who rebels against the government and he has to face the punishment.
Harrison Bergeron is a short story and film, 2081, that tells about a man who lives in a world where everyone is equal. Due to the 211, 212, and 213 amendment, everyone stong wears weights, everyone who is smart wears an earpiece, and everyone beautiful wears a mask. The film and story are similar and different in many ways. There are different descriptions of characters and different dialogue. The are similar in ways such as the image of Harrison and the death of Harrison.
The two stories, “Harrison Bergeron” and Fahrenheit 451, both have common themes. The common themes of the stories may include; our reliance on technology can spiral out of control if we let it, knowledge is joyful and painful, and that we can be confined by our own self-censorship. All of these themes are exhibited throughout both stories frequently. Whether it is as Montag has conflict with his wife over books or as Harrison’s parents forget right from wrong in their society. In Fahrenheit 451, their technology definitely gets out of control.
Comparing and contrasting 2081 to Harrison Bergeron Admit it, one time you were bored or sat down with nothing to do and couldn’t help but imagine how life would be if everyone was equal, don’t even try denying it, you’ve thought of that at least once in your life, but as any good writer would do, they’d write their thoughts down and turn it into a story, that’s exactly what Kurt Vonnegut did. Just imagine living a life where no one gets compared to others in any way. We all wish for a society like that, but Kurt showed us how equality can negatively affect our society. But that’s not the our main idea in this essay, our main idea is to highlight the comparisons and contrasts between the story “Harrison Bergeron” and the movie version “2081”. To begin with, Both the story and the movie had the same introduction/ Opening; “Everybody was finally equal.
Books and movies have been around for many years and lately movie directors have been making more and more movies based off of books. Most people do not know that around 50% of movies are based off of books. Although, it really depends on what people mean when a movie is “based” off a book. Some directors say a movie is based off a book, but has a different plot and seems totally different. So, in order to keep true to the book, directors keep the plot relatively the same, but there are a few times they decide to change the message entirely by changing just a few key events.
“Repent Harlequin Said the Tictockman” by Harlan Ellison wrote in 1965 is about a time keeping government trying to achieve complete efficiency. The 1961 science fiction short story “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is about complete equality, disabling humanity from success. By examining elements of character analysis, tone, plot, setting, and diction, readers can see that these two dystopian stories can be compared and contrasted. “Repent Harlequin…” and “Harrison Bergeron” take place in alternate futures where the government has either taken control of everyone’s schedules or removed things that would make them unequal. Both stories are led by an antagonist and by someone who rebelled against them, but eventually, the rebellion fails and as far as we know the oppression goes on.
In the three stories Harrison Bergeron, The Pedestrian and Fahrenheit 451 the futuristic technology is a problem. In the story Harrison Bergeron, people were considered uncanny and sent off to insane asylums and in the pedestrian, the technology was used to make the people the same and people that have the handicaps were despised by the people that wore them. While in Fahrenheit 451 there were many accidents because there were reckless drivers and it caused deaths to occur. In Fahrenheit 451 the quote “McClellan. Run over by a car…
Dystopia is a popular genre in which authors write about a fictional society that is perceived to be perfect and ideal by the vast majority of the people in it. Authors must intrigue the reader, and this is difficult because they have to somehow illustrate a future that is vaguely similar to ours. However, it has to be completely fictional, which makes it tough to formulate realistic storylines. Nevertheless, these authors use literary elements to counter these difficulties and produce realistic characters and you can see this when Ray Bradbury, Ayn Rand, and James Dashner use symbolism in their respected novels, Fahrenheit 451, Anthem, and The Maze Runner. This literary technique gives Dystopian Literature the uniqueness and adds the key elements to make the story flow.
In the strict world of 2081, citizens were forced to hide their uniqueness behind masks, and their smartness with buzzers that sounded in their ears almost every second of the day. The dreadful story of “Harrison Bergeron” was very popular and was created as a short movie. There are some similarities and differences between the story and the movie, but they are mostly similar to each other. The beginning of the story started out the same, but changed as the movie progressed in events. The story of “Harrison Bergeron” is pretty much the same, like the plot, but the characterization and conflict are slightly different in the movie than in the story.
The short story “Harrison Bergeron”, by author Kurt Vonnegut, signifies the common characteristics of dystopian literature. Vonnegut informs the reader in the first line of the story “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal”. (Vonnegut 1). This depicts a “futuristic, imagined, universe” (ReadWriteThink 1) where “information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.” (ReadWriteThink 1), which are both common characteristics of a dystopian society.
Thesis: In Kurt Vonnegut 's story, "Harrison Bergeron," symbolism, tone, and irony reveal the author 's message to the reader which is his perspective on equality. Notably, there are countless symbols in the narrative "Harrison Bergeron" all of which trace back to the theme of the story. The handicaps people are forced to wear are symbols for the control the government has over people. "George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn 't be handicapped.
The term dystopia is a society or world where everything is dangerous, scary, or unpleasant, but it can also describe a world presented with flaws. One example of a dystopian society is found in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Jonas, the main character in The Giver, thinks that he lives in a world that is perfect, but later on in the story, he finds that this is not true. Therefore, Jonas lives in a dystopian society and not in a utopia. In the story, people force all of the memories on one person, have no wisdom, and are euthanized.
Political and sociological oppression is presented in dystopian novels because of totalitarian control in the laws, customs, and practices in an existing state of illusion. A dystopia is an “unhealthy, bad place that seems like a perfect society”. Dystopias are futuristic places where oppressive societal control, and illusions of a perfect society take place through corporate, technological, and moral control. Oppression is the combination of prejudice and access to social, political, and economic power on the part of a powerful group. This fictional literary device in dystopian literature is often used for exploring political and social structures in a place with poverty, war, discomfort, and oppression.
The science fiction works of “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut and “The Pedestrian”, by Ray Bradbury are sarcastic portrayals of futuristic societies that are controlled by authoritative governments that have completely made their communities equal. Each of these stories take a look at the prospect of promoting sameness and conformity among all people, and questions the effects of the forced elimination of citizens’ individuality in order to maintain equality. In “The Pedestrian” Mr. Leonard Mead faces extreme consequences for his nightly stroll in the city. In the year 2053, Mead’s society has become completely taken over by televisions and the media.
