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What Is The Danger Of Equality In Harrison Bergeron

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In the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut discusses the danger of total equality, In the year 2081 the United States government has added Amendments 211, 212, and 213 to the Constitution. Basically these amendments mean that no one man is better than anybody else and all people are now equal . I personally think that total equality is something not worth working for if the United States has to tortures its citizens. By reading the story you soon find out that there is no such thing as individuality or being different, in the story the beautiful people are forced to wear mask and the intelligent must wear devices that force each of them to lose their train of thought and last but not least the strong and graceful must be weighted down all hours of the day. Ask yourself, is that something that you would like for the future generations to be a part of. …show more content…

Something I had to ask myself what was more important the rights of all individuals or the rights of society. I also think making true equality for everybody would take away from each person and people wouldn't get the chance to show how to create each person could be. Harrison is special in his own way but the United States tries to force him to hide who he really is because he’s not the same as the next person which forces him to rebel and break out jail. I also think that the author is also trying to get us as a society to understand don’t take the idea of “equality” to the extreme. We are all special in our own way and no two people are born the same never have been never will be. People will always choose to stand regardless that be good or bad, I think that's what makes the United States the United

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Equality strips society of its freedom and individuality. The undercover superheroes in "The Incredibles" and the handicapped citizens in "Harrison Bergeron" are individuals that confront this exact issue. Both stories incorporate a strict, elaborate system of equality that when disrupted, impose consequences that the characters must suffer. Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, and The Incredibles, directed by Brad Bird, both address the implications and futility of total equality. The texts use a satirical approach of exaggeration and reversal to convey this message.

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They were equal every which way.’ The story also states, ‘Some things about living still weren't quite right, though.’ This informs the reader that the latent theme in the story underlines that striving for a world where equality is everything, is not worth it; even though many people believe it is. The story Harrison Bergeron communicates the message that total equality is nothing but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both execution and outcome.

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In Harrison’s society, what everyone wants, is mistaken. People do not need limitations, to be “equal”. They are meeting equality, but maybe they should try meeting equity. If that happened to the world right now, everyone would not be above, they would be meeting every low traits. If everyone was meeting every low trait, then no one would compete with each other, they would just be the same.

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Harrison Bergeron Essay Claim: Being equal isn’t always fair. Intro: What if someone had to wear a handicap? Or what if someone had to be treated exactly like everyone else?

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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.

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The Importance of Absolute Equality in “Harrison Bergeron” For hundreds of years, humanity has struggled to define equality, as well implement the concept properly into society. Slaves; prisoners of war; and even in today’s society, we still see people of color treated as lesser than their Caucasian counterparts. Interestingly enough, color is never introduced as a problem in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron”. While most people nowadays would agree that the word “equality” refers to equal opportunity, Vonnegut forces this word to the extremes, and warps its meaning into something much more controlling, to the point where it harms society more than inequality ever did.

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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.

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The quote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ” summarizes what Harrison is fighting for. The year 2081, there is finally equality, but to be made equal there are many individuals that are made handicapped because they are better than everyone else. Harrison is one that is made handicapped and tension arose between the handicap general and Harrison. Harrison believed that being handicapped stops him from showing his full potential.

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“Harrison Bergeron” shows total equality in an extreme way that catches attention, to show there are consequences to this often sought after way of life. The author uses the extreme ways the government forces equality to demonstrate how equality actually degrades society as a whole. The story showed how forced equality can make people have unrealistic and absurd world views, and how important jobs in society are left to people who are incompetent and unfit for the job. All of these consequences are easily paralleled in society today, and, unless people recognize the danger, could quickly become a serious

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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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In “Harrison Bergeron”, each person was not truly equal. For example, the ballerinas in the story were prettier than the maximum people, so they were required to wear masks. Hazel, the mother of Harrison, believed that the ballerinas were beautiful since her mask was extremely ugly. Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicap General, forces them to be like the public and will punish anyone who says different. Consequently a few people enjoy being the same, it is not easy, and following the Handicap General’s rules is challenging.

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The people of the United States fight and strive for an absolute “equal” society, but is it what’s really wanted? “Harrison Bergeron,” a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut, uses satire to describe the deficiency in our idea of a truly “equal” society. Throughout the story, Vonnegut describes the torture and discomfort the government administers among the people, and though they were “equal,” they were not balanced. Vonnegut uses characterization and word choice to warn his readers of the potential drawbacks of a truly “equal” society. He warns normalcy would become the base of thought, and people would become incapable of emotion.

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In “Harrison Bergeron” people aren’t truly equal. In this short story, they took equality to the next level. Most people think that equality is everyone being treated with the same amount of respect. Appearance has nothing to do with equality in today’s society. Although looking the same and having the same level of intelligence may decrease jealousy, people shouldn’t force others to change because of this.

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Compare Contrast Essay Equality means “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities”(Merriam Webster). This can be a good thing in many ways, however having too much equality is a bad thing. Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and 2081 are similar because Harrison is shot and killed in the story and the movie, however they are different by in the movie Harrison plants a bomb where in the story there is no bomb.

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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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