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Effects of social inequality essay
Effects of social inequality on society
Effects of social inequality essay
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Equality is defined as the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. Based on this definition one may say that the society portrayed in the story of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is equal but when taking a closer inspection, it is evident that it is far from equal. In this society there was one in control, the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glamper. She regulated life in a way for all of those under her control by assigning the common people various handicaps that would make the victims average, by her standards. While those in this deranged world believed they were all equal they failed to recognize the fact that people that were more superior in physic or intelligence where handicapped the most, that the Handicapper General bared all the power, and that they are brainwashed and forced to believe that …show more content…
There is a lot needed to be equal and in this story there was no sense of equality. The superior people were punished for being bored that way while those who were not as gifted were disabled less. To be truly equal everyone would have to have the same disability and it should not differ from the other people. This idea of true equality would never work because there is no way to unite a society together to create the same lifetyle for everyone at least in this day and age. Basic human nature prevents that from happening because greedy, power and self identification lead to separations which cannot happen if people are needed to be united. In the story this also did not work because people like Harrison realized the problem in making everyone less than what they were intended to be and decided to make a statement to try and change society back into what it once was. The only way that equality could have been fully achieved in this story is by people being bored average. It did not work by making normal people average and that is where equality
Each person has different characteristics about them that give them their own identity and that should not be changed. In the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the main character, Harrison Bergeron is known as a threat to society. He is very intelligent, handsome, and athletic. In 2081, every person in the United States is equal. The government has taken over and has required everyone to wear handicaps to make them less smart, less pretty, less strong, and many other things. At the beginning of the story they mention a husband and wife, George and Hazel Bergeron, and they have a son, Harrison, who gets taken away because of his perfections. Later in the story, Hazel and George are watching ballerinas on television, when the program is interrupted by breaking news. They inform the viewers that Harrison has broken out of jail. The program then turns back on and Harrison appears on stage with the ballerinas. He proceeds to take off every
At the first glance, an image of the society portrayed in the “Harrison Bergeron” short will put the reader at a halt. This short story depicts a nation that has made the world a place of pure equality. “They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” (Vonnegut). The government had completely taken over the nation and its people. There were handicaps for those who had advantages over anyone else. Power was non-existent in this land. Mainly because all of it belonged to the government. If there was ever a time to see the imbalance of power it would be now. This story is not only a fictitious short to entertain the reader. This Short is a warning to the world providing a view of the consequences of power. “Ironically, no one really benefits from these misguided attempts to enforce equality” (Themes and Construction: "Harrison Bergeron"). Even on the television programs, beautiful women with handicaps placed on their faces. “They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (Vonnegut). An elaborate handicap had been placed over the whole country and the public was fine with it! Power causes more than a hardship if not detected. It ruins lives. The people of this short will never know what it means to be
Imagine a society where not a single person competes with another. It has been like this for years, yet nothing has changed since the start of this new world. No new technology, no new occupations, no new discoveries. Absolutely nothing is different. Without competition no one will push themselves to be better or to achieve any goals, and without new achievements society cannot survive, let alone thrive. The short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. discusses this topic. Set in a society where anyone above average in any way is handicapped, therefore everyone is completely and totally equal. One handicapped man, George’s, son is taken away by the government at the mere age of fourteen under suspicion of rebellious intentions. Another
Aristotle said, “ The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” True equality is hard to come by when there are so many things that make people so different. The word equality has a very general meaning. That meaning however, can be interpreted in many different ways. To some, the interpretation can lean more towards a sense of freedom. This freedom has been something society has been fighting for throughout the entirety of history. To others, such as author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., it could mean the complete opposite. In Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut portrays equality as a sort of societal imprisonment.
Have you wondered what the world would be like if everyone was forced into the government’s opinion of equality? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s story “Harrison Bergeron”, it is the year 2081 and the government has altered the society into being physically and socially equal. The most charming people are left to wear hideous masks, the intelligent are to be equipped with a earpiece that plays ear piercing noises, and the strong people have to wear excessive heavy weights so they resemble the weak. I believe that the society of “Harrison Bergeron” is not truly equal, because no one can be changed unless they want to be.
This short story takes place in the future around the year 2081. Due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments under the law, everyone is treated as an equal. With that being said, no one is prettier, smarter or stronger than anyone else. These laws of equality were created so that everyone is made to be equal by placing mental and physical handicaps onto them. A Handicapper General named Dianna Moon Glampers is the one who enforces all the laws for this society as they are designed to keep everyone the same. Harrison Bergeron is the main character in this story and he was taken away from his parents George and Hazel at the age of fourteen by the government. Harrison is not only intelligent but also tall and handsome. Living in a world where everyone is forced to be equal make him a big threat to society. Dianna Glampers
What would actually happen if everyone was forced to be equal? Kurt Vonnegut envisioned the fatal outcome in his masterpiece, “Harrison Bergeron.” The story illustrates “what would happen if a government or some other power takes this notion serious” (Mowery). The protagonist, Harrison, who is arrest for “exuberant individuality,” escapes from prison and goes on national television station to declare himself emperor, only later to be killed by the handicap general Diane Moon. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut satirizes the movement toward egalitarianism and the effect of television on people.
……………Most of the numerous and very disparate urban utopias imagined since antiquity, claim more or less a social justice combining equality, fairness, and freedom. However the methods invented to reach this social justice often lead to more binding law, sometimes up to the absurd, that limited the abilities and capacities of the citizens. Thus, behind the mask of an ideal equality, is concealed in fact, a tremendous social injustice. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut’s shows us the consequences of sacrificing freedom for perfect equality by using the story of an excessive utopia to demonstrate that a society in which total equality exists, is not only oppressive, but also static and inefficient. Vonnegut exemplifies the image of fairness
“Harrison Bergeron” is a story about Big Government forcing equality on citizens by the use of handicaps; in doing so they hold everyone back from their fullest potential. The year 2081 is oppressive to say the least; people are punished for being above average in intelligence, beauty, physical abilities or any variety of capabilities. No one is supposed to be more attractive, stronger, more intelligent or quicker than anyone else. The quest for egalitarianism is faulty; people who are born gifted are hindered by ridiculous weight bags, glasses to cause blindness and headaches, ear radios that send nerve racking noises every twenty seconds courtesy of a government transmitter and hideous masks are a few objects implemented to make everyone equal. The government, in trying to even the playing field to give everyone the same, fair chance, handicapped the gifted far beyond the point of making them equal to the average citizen. In the story “Harrson Burgeron,” Hazel is developed primarily through her average intelligence, limited imagination, and empathy toward her husband as well as others to suggest the central idea that a totalitarianism government leads to the degradation of one’s humanity.
The character believed that the world they lived in was equal, but it was not. Some people were still prettier than others, and some people were still smarter than others and there is nothing they could do about it. While they did have handicaps to make things more “fair”. It made the people with handicaps even more different. How would you feel if you saw someone walking down the hall with large weights tied to them or an ugly mask covering their face? Would you stare? While trying to make everyone equal they made others stand out even more. This goes to show that Kurt Vonegut killed Harrison to show hopelessness because the idea that we could have equality is impossible and hopeless. This brings me to my next point.
In “Harrison Bergeron,” the author tells the tale of a generation that is equal in both mental and physical abilities. The major idea of the story is to show readers that total equality can be dangerous if they are interpreted too literally, as we are born each with our own individual mental and physical capabilities, and achieving total equality can be torture and unrealistic. To achieve physical and mental equality among all citizens, the government in Vonnegut’s story sets equality as a principle set in America’s Declaration of Independence, where the beautiful must wear hideous masks or disfigure themselves, the intelligent must listen to earsplitting noises that impede their ability to think, and the graceful and strong must wear weights
Harrison Bergeron is a short story set in 2081 in dystopian America. Communism has finally taken over, as everyone is now completely and entirely equal. Not only are people equal in race, and in gender, they are equal in every way. “Everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else,”, as it states in the first paragraph. Everyone is the ‘average Joe’ (or Jane), and people have finally gained absolute equality.
What would happen to the world if everyone in our society was equal in every aspect? Would this create utopia or hell? In this short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. America has finally achieved full social equality, and living up to the first amendment fully. In this futuristic society, handicaps force this equality, the strong, the beautiful, the intelligent are forced to wear weights, masks, and headphones. These constraints force equality among the American people from beauty and brains, to strength. Harrison is the symbol of defiance and individuality, and represents the aspects of the American people that still want to try hard, out do their peers, and show off their attributes. The story criticizes the policy of equality
The year is 2081, this was the time when everyone was finally equivalent. “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anyone else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than everybody else.” In the short story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, uses descriptive language to show tension, suspense, and drama within this story. Vonnegut uses this tool to show the people's need for freedom from both the handicaps and the government. This reveals both the drama and suspense.
In both Harrison Bergeron and today’s society, people struggle with equality. As shown in Harrison Bergeron the pushing of equality causes consequences. Equality is being pushed onto everyone by having handicaps to make them sure that no one person is better than another. Equality can also cause any type of hurt, both physical and mental. Physical hurt is what occurs with George. George is