In the year 2081, people were finally equal, and everyone was equal in every which way. No one could be more intelligent than the other or more attractive. All of the equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution. The reader may feel sorry for George Bergeron because of his tallness and his handicaps, Hazel’s normal intelligence, and the comments about their son Harrison. George Bergeron was not very well liked by the government because he was smart and handsome. They had put a handicap radio in his ear, which he was required to wear was bad because every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from showing how smart he was. The government hated the fact that George was so strong. They had to put 47 pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, padlocked around his neck to weigh him down. “ Go on and rest the bag for a little while,” hazel said. “ I don’t care if you’re not equal to me for a while”. George responded saying, “ I don’t mind it, I don’t notice it anymore. It’s just a part of me.” Because of the laws, everyone was equal, no one was better than anyone, not him, not Hazel, not anyone. …show more content…
She cried sometimes, but never knew why, but mostly because of her son Harrison. One day Hazel and George were watching ballerinas on tv , George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers should not be handicapped, but before he could finish his thoughts another noise in his ear scattered them and he winced. Hazel asked what the latest sound had been, and he said, “sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen
Diana Moon Glampers is a Handicapper General government official, she made it possible for everyone to have equality by adding the “211th, 212th, and 213th amendment to the constitution” (“Harrison Bergeron”). Her definition of equality is by bringing the smart, strong, and good looking people down to the same level as the not so smart, strong and good looking people. The government wants George to have a handicap radio on his ear to stop him from thinking far ahead, this handicap radio makes different kind of sounds every twenty seconds. He is also wearing forty-seven pounds around his neck to weigh himself down because he is stronger than the average. Hazel is worried about George because he looks really tired from having to carry extra weigh
It's the year 2081 and there are three new amendments added to the constitution that made American fully equal in every aspect. The 211, 212, and 213 were the amendment that were added to the constitution. George and Hazel Bergeron have a son named Harrison who was taken away at the age of fourteen years old. George Bergeron was a very intelligence person, so for people like him they had a radio set in their ear. There is a little sound wave that go off sometimes to delay their thought process. His wife on the other hand was not handicap because she was not above average like her husband. One night in 2018, the Bergerons are sitting in front of the TV watching ballet, with ballerinas wearing masks to hide their beauty and weights to hold back their grace and strength. The Ballet is interrupted when one of the ballerinas has a serious government news announcement to make. The news was about Harrison Bergeron who has escaped and is one his way to the ballet show! He rips off the door to the stage and storms on screen. He declares himself Emperor and takes one of the ballerinas as his Empress. Harrison and his empress both dance, fly through the air, and kiss each other. The Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, did not care about how he feel about the rules, so
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
Though one of the smallest characters in the book, Fitzgerald took the time to craft a character that represents weakness just by being himself, and that person is George Wilson. Wilson is one of the smallest yet most important in all of The Great Gatsby. He is claimed by his wife, Myrtle, to be a “‘dirty little coward”, which is most likely one of the reasons she leaves him in the dust behind her(137). This statement establishes the fact that Wilson has a weakness of living almost in fear. Wilson is living in an emotionally abusive relationship, and like most in this situation, he does not have the courage to stand up for himself and fight back. However, this fear backfires when Wilson finds a beautiful, silver dog collar. After finding it,
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.
I guess that it’s safe to say that being alone and afraid in the dark woods is no one’s first idea to think of doing. Although, in Gary Paulsen’s novel, Hatchet, that’s exactly what happened to a thirteen year old Brian Robeson, when his plane crashed due to a pilot’s sudden death from a heart attack. Brian is stranded in a remote location in the Canadian wilderness, with nothing but a himself and a hatchet his mother gave him. Nonetheless, despite his very limited resources, Brian manages to survive, and is rescued after a long fifty-four days being alone. After reviewing upon Brian’s survival situation and traits, I believe sadly, dissimilar to Brian, I would not be able to survive in the unknown wilderness alone, or make it to day fifty-four.
“Harrison Bergeron” a short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., takes place in a totalitarian society where everyone is equal. A man who tries to play the savior, but ultimately fails in his endeavors to change the world. Vonnegut short story showed political views on communism, which is that total equality is not good (and that equity might be better).
Would a regular citizen enjoy being as skilled of a dancer as a ballerina? Or as intelligent as the next guy? In Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s story of Harrison Bergeron, handicaps, such as small radio’s that blast sharp sounds are used to prevent individuals from having more intellectual thoughts than others. The year is 2081 and everyone is equal in every which way. Handicapped George and his wife Hazel are watching a ballerina performance. The show is interrupted by an announcement to watch out for their son, Harrison Bergeron as he is under-handicapped and dangerous. The conflict begins when Harrison enters the studio and declares he is Emperor. He finds his ballerina Empress, and dances with her before being shot and killed by Handicapper General Diana, resolving the conflict. This event is a more specific account of Harrison’s conflict with the current society as a whole, which is reflected through the use of theme, symbolism, and point of view.
Vonnegut crafts the dystopian message of society being controlled by the people and the government within Harrison Bergeron through the use of irony and other different details and languages. First of all, during the beginning of the short story, equality was achieved due to the 211th - 213th amendments made to the Constitution. This made it so handicaps were introduced to those who had a natural advantage over those who were considered inferior. The first note of irony is introduced by the main character named Hazel. While conversing with her husband, a man named George, she objects that if she were the Handicapper General, she would do a good job at being one. However, due to equality being reached, the irony is seen by the perceived confidence
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.
In 2081, this was a dystopian society where the average was considered to be normal while being too intelligent was considered abnormal. People could not freely express themselves physically or mentally because of the laws that could be violated during this time. George and Hazel were one of many of these individuals that followed the law because of the fear of getting punished. Hazel was different than George.Hazel was a woman with an average intelligence and short-term memory while George was intelligent and his visions and thoughts were often disrupted by a loud sound in his ear caused by his handicap gear.Everyone needed to be the same or they would be a threat to society. This was because in this society being too smart was a crime just
The quote, “I throw my weight against their locked doors. The door holds. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save their lives,” is a very important aspect in the story-line. It helps close out the story and tie everything together. It ties in all back to the beginning. That very first Superman comic book that taught Sherman Alexie how to read. As well as showing just how hard he worked to teach the children as much as possible.
Happiness and forced equality cannot coexist because there is no freedom. In the Harrison Bergeron society inhabitants have to wear varying types of handicaps so that equality is maintained, but in doing so, they lose their freedom. The “H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son,
According to that, narrator proved that the bigger and overweight character’s birdshot bag was then the more talented and special he or she was. In addition, Harrison carried three hundred pounds junk materials besides birdshot bags. The government tried to make equality by enforcing talented and special people wearing those birdshot bags. However, this birdshot makes them unique because in the real life no one will know a person gifts by only looking at them. It takes time to discover someone natural ability, but in the story government made it obvious that they were different from others. Specifically, narrator uses irony in his story because everything turned opposite what I
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