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The influence of the media in society
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Jealousy Because of Difference
Kurt Vonnegurt’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron” is set in 2081, where everyone is equal. No one is smarter than anyone else, better looking than anyone else, or better in any way than anyone else. If you were smarter than someone, you would have a handicap to make you average to everyone else. If you were strong, you would have a handicap to make you weak. In this world, equality is everything. The government does this because they don’t want others to become envious of their peers. One lesson that can be taught through this story is, people will always be jealous of what makes you different from them because, everyone wants to be better than the person sitting next to them.
In the beginning of the story
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Just before the dance ended, a news announcement suddenly flashed on the screen. The announcement stated that Harrison Bergeron, someone who was so different from everyone, more different than cats and dogs, broke out of jail. This mad, crazy, non-equal man, was in the theatre. Everyone was scared, and trapped inside with Harrison Bergeron. The story goes along to describe how Harrison titled himself an Emperor, and he needs an Empress. With much bravery, one ballerina stood from the crowd, The ballerina was strong and amazingly animated, you could tell by the weights she held and the mask she wore. Harrison then stripped her of her handicaps, the same way he would does to the orchestra. The Emperor and the Empress danced elegantly together. “ And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang! Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well. They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun. They leaped like deer on the moon. The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it. It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.” Vonnegut drew the scene of majestic grace, as the two danced together. For only a moment, the rules of equality didn’t seem to exist. For only a moment, you could be better than your peers and for that moment, and that moment only, nothing else
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
The future entails breakthrough technology and unknown leadership. The harsh rules of the government in, Harrison Bergeron, causes the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron, to come up with the dangerous idea to overthrow the government which leads to the violent behavior of the antagonist Diana Moon Glampers. The author, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., uses character development to show the theme of the harsh government through the eyes of the protagonist, antagonist, and the foil characters Hazel and George Bergeron in this futuristic society.
Harrison Bergeron is a short story that creates many images and feelings while using symbols and themes to critique aspects of our lives. In the story, the future US government implements a mandatory handicap for any citizens who is over their standards of normal. The goal of the program is to make everyone equal in physical capabilities, mental aptitude and even outward appearance. The story is focused around a husband and wife whose son, Harrison, was taken by the government because he is very strong and smart, and therefore too above normal not to be locked up. But, Harrison’s will is too great. He ends up breaking out of prison, and into a TV studio where he appears on TV. There, he removes the government’s equipment off of himself, and a dancer, before beginning to dance beautifully until they are both killed by the authorities. The author uses this story to satire
Those who are better looking have to wear masks to make them uglier and those who are smarter have to wear mental handicap radios that play noises every 20 seconds to scatter their thoughts. In the story, Harrison decided he was done being controlled by the government and tore off all of the things the government had put on him to make him less of a person. The text says, “Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacle against the wall. He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder” (Bergeron 25). Harrison finally wanted to be unique and instead of getting praised for being different, he was shot dead by the government. This is how the author of this story believes our future will turn out because the people are constantly begging for equality. When today’s society say they want equality, is that really what they mean? They state that they want everyone
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine even brighter. Vonnegut uses satire to explore the question of whether true equality can ever really exist.
An impartial society: Utopia or Hell? What would happen to the world if the people were literally equal in every aspect of their lives? In the futuristic short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the world is finally living up to America’s first amendment of everyone being created equal. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks, respectively. Thus, these constraints leave the world equal from brains to brawn to beauty. With the world constantly pushing for equality among people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. Through this foreshadowing of the future, Vonnegut attempts to use Diana Moon Glampers and
What gives the reader the false idea of utopia in Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” is the deep social control in the form handicaps where individual’s abilities and competence and even appearance are neutralized and vilified as a form of inequality. The characteristics of equality chosen by Vonnegut; beauty, athleticism, and intelligence is important to the story’s message. The main focus of the story are the characteristics of equality that are subjective, the very same characteristics we are born with that makes us different and minimally states the objective ones, the ones that plague our society today. This not only satirizes the epitome of equality itself, but rather the people’s flawed ideals and belief of what total equality is supposed to be or should be.
Ever since the beginning of time, Americans have been struggling to obtain equality. The main goal is to have a country where everyone can be considered equal, and no one is judged or discriminated against because of things out of their control. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Plays with this idea of total equality in his futuristic short story, Harrison Bergeron. The setting is in 2081, where everyone is equal. No one is allowed to be better than anybody else. The government makes anyone who would be considered above average wear a transmitting device to limit their thoughts to twenty seconds at a time, which is considered average in this day. They also must wear bags of buckshot shackled to their necks to ensure no one can be stronger than anybody
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.
Have you ever wondered what life would be if everyone was equal? Well, in the year 2081, the government made everyone equal with handicaps. In the story “Harrison Bergeron”, the government makes people with special talents or abilities wear handicaps. I agree with the claim,”Everyone was not truly equal in “Harrison Bergeron”. Some reasons why I believe that this statement wasn’t true is that the handicaps don’t take away your abilities, handicaps are not useful, and it is not fair for the people with abilities to wear handicaps. Everyone is truly equal in “Harrison Bergeron” because it made average people and below average people feel equal to the higher and better people.
Harrison, a seven-foot-tall, incredibly brilliant young man escapes from an asylum and decides to rebel. He breaks into a television studio, disrupting the musical show by removing his mask and handicaps. “I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison . “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! ... Shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance?”(Vonnegut 3) Harrison and the ballerina which he selected, dance to the most beautiful song and to the end they leaped in the air kissing the ceiling, showing that this is freedom! “Diana Moon Glampers . . . came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” (Vonnegut 4) Without knowing she was still on air, proving that the setting highlighted the moment of change. Therefore initiating the theme that it takes one voice one action and one idea to make a difference in the world.
The society that Vonnegut has created takes equality to a level most of us cannot comprehend. "The year was 2081, and 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." Equality is a great thing that the world should embrace; complete equality though is another issue. In a world of absolute equality, every human would be looked upon nothing more or less than the person beside him or her. Vonnegut highlights these issues of how equality can be taken to the extreme with the handicaps. The handicaps are brutal and seem almost primitive or medieval. Bags filled with lead balls that are attached around Georges neck, or the masks that the ballerinas are forced to wear. The goal is to try and manipulate the population in such way that humans will produce children that are all relativity average and the
Being unique is a necessary part of life. People are told starting as children that they need to be themselves. They are told to do what they love and love what they do. What if the world didn’t allow this? Kurt Vonnegut ponders the idea of a life in which the government enforces complete equality. “Harrison Bergeron” takes place in a future society that hinders people with skills to make everyone equal. This society makes everyone worse instead of better. Complete equality has too many issues for it to be viable. Equality should be for all in the eyes of the law. However, complete equality should not be pursued because taking away the differences between people is a clear mistake.
The story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is120 years in the future, which allows us to more easily accept some of the bizarre events that happen in the story such as when the character Harrison Bergeron is dancing with a ballerina and there is no law of gravity and motion, so they can almost touch the studio ceiling which is thirty feet high. The author emphasizes in his work themes such as freedom, mind manipulation, the American dream, and media influence, also the opposition between strength and weakness and knowledge and ignorance. The story illustrates that being equal to one another is not always the best way to live because everyone is different for a reason. Also, this is what makes everyone special in your particular way.
Although the comparisons are well hidden, both today’s society and the story ‘Harrison Bergeron’ share similar qualities. They both deal with equality, which leads to problems and consequences. A second similarity is the struggle of competition and trying to prevent it from occurring, which also leads to problems. Lastly, both struggle with normality, and the fact that it’s hard to accept that different is okay now.