Equal Possibilities

What does being equal mean? In the sense of a comparison between people, equality means to have the same rights and opportunities as others around you, without discrimination of any nature. If there were to live a society where every person is exactly the same, how would they be able to express individuality? How would anything be accomplished? There would be, effectively, no progress made because not one person would be able to think beyond the thoughts of the least intelligent person in said society. People would lose all of their unique and distinct qualities and therefore their humanity. They would suppress themselves into small, minuscule beings that have no impact on anything. There would no longer be free choice or any type of opinion. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. uses irony to express that complete and total equality in everything, both mental and physical, will effectively destroy any possibility of development in a society.

If every person shares the same amount of intelligence nothing will be successfully achieved. Because no ones thought process can be greater than that of the least intelligent’s there can no longer be innovative solutions to problems. When the citizens no longer hold the capacity for meaningful conversation the society loses its cohesiveness. Vonnegut writes, “‘Reckon it’d fall all apart,’ said Hazel. ‘What would?’ said George blankly. ‘Society,’ said Hazel uncertainly. ‘Wasn’t that what you just said?’ ‘Who knows?’ said George” (Vonnegut 14). This quote directly shows how the lack of connective thoughts can throw a whole situation in disarray. The author uses irony by discussing how the society would fall apart if everyone was not equal, yet with equal intellectual levels George and Haz...

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...ike all announcers, had a serious speech impediment” (14). This shows how they give him the job simply because they know he cannot be successful in it. They chose him because he will not make a good productive impact on society. When something is presented that is doable by everyone it has no meaning.

The author uses irony in the story to show how equality can prohibit progress. If a society is only as smart as their least intelligent citizen then no one will find innovative solutions to their problems. People have almost always had competition as their main motivator in life. One’s actions lose value when they are no better than anyone else’s. Vonnegut writes, “They weren’t only equal before God and the law” (12). People are equal in value and worth because they are people and do not need to be equal in all aspects. They only need to be equal before God and the law.