The Use of Oxymorons: Control and Dehumanization of Society

During World War 2, Adolf Hitler referred to the Jewish people as “vermin” or “rats” dehumanizing them. Similarly, the people living in Brave New World and “Harrison Bergeron” also live in a degraded state. The controlling of society through technology makes the citizens of the Brave New World and “Harrison Bergeron” live a dehumanized life. Oxymorons, which are contradicting terms that are combined, are used in both stories, and help explain how technology dehumanizes people. The stories’ inventions and advancements and the censoring used in the society of the stories show this as well.

The use of oxymorons shows the people’s dehumanization from technology. First, the most civilized person living in the society is actually called a savage. In Brave New World, John, who is from a Savage Reservation (he was born from a mother) is the most civilized person that lives in the society due to his knowledge of the past (gained from books). He is the only common citizen to have gained this sort of knowledge because he once lived at a Savage Reservation where books were not censored. However, John is always called “The Savage” or “Mr. Savage” in this civilized society. By giving John names like this, it shows that he is not thought of as a human by the rest of the people living in the society. Instead, the people treat and think of John as a savage or animal. Next, when the most perfect people in a society are locked up and given disabilities or killed, it is another oxymoron which shows how technology dehumanizes people. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Harrison Bergeron, unlike most others, is a nearly perfect human, being strong, handsome, smart, agile, and graceful. However, he, like many others with these qualities, is given handicaps to wea...

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... Bergeron,” people are given handicaps to make them all equally stupid, ugly, slow, and etc. By making everyone the same, all individual uniqueness is erased which also leads to the depraving of human traits. All people are special in their own way which is one way in which people differ from animals. By losing this trait, humans basically become the same as animals. As a result, the censoring of things by the government is another way in which technology dehumanizes people.

Oxymorons, advancements and inventions, and censoring are all things which come up in the stories Brave New World and “Harrison Bergeron”. These things also explain the common theme in both stories as well. Thus, the technology used to control societies also dehumanizes people in both of the two stories. In some ways, these two societies that were described are also like our own world as well.