Barry Goldwater said it eloquently when he stated, “Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our life time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.” But Kurt Vonnegut wrote about equality best in his short story Harrison Bergeron. In six shorts pages Vonnegut created a futuristic world where the beautiful are required to wear masks and the strong to wear restraints, creating a façade of equality between everyone. Using symbolism, foreshadowing, setting, and imagery, Vonnegut helps establish the theme that the readers do not really want true equality in the world and leads the readers to question and criticize the fact that they are more focused on being normal and like everyone else than they are on being individuals.
Vonnegut seems to use imagery to paint a vivid and intense mental picture for his readers. “He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder,” In the story, Harrison Bergeron, Harrison is described in a way that when readers visualize him they picture an utterly strikingly beautiful and tall male, with an athlete’s body, a genius mind and the might of a thousand giants. He is fashioned to seem like a monster that is larger than life but the vehement question is why? Many of Vonnegut’s admirers believe that Harrison is portrayed as larger than life because in the world that Diana Moon Glampers, Handicapper General, manages, because he is too free thinking. He has ideas and opinions, which goes against everything they’ve worked so hard to build. Harrison believes in exceptionality and individualism in a world where...
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...oreshadowing of his son’s death. Harrison died fighting for something he believed in, like our military does, hence the salute.
In conclusion, Kurt Vonnegut used imagery, symbolism, foreshadowing and setting to aid the reader in understanding the underlying messages throughout the short story Harrison Bergeron. Vonnegut establishes the theme that the audience doesn’t really want true equality in the world. He does this while critiquing the morals of society about equality and conformity. He asks the question: Is equality being encouraged or is conformity overpowering individualism? Although many readers will say that equality is encouraged while they are actually conforming to the mold of “normal” given to them by their peers, it is very evident that society is all about fitting in than standing out. So you are asked to make a choice today… Equality or Conformity?
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
Society has developed throughout history into a seemingly equal; however, segregated commonwealth. In general, humanity may seem to have broken the nineteenth century class structure, nonetheless, there are situations today that still have deep roots in discrimination and apartheid. Advancement in both extremes can result in a catastrophe, therefore, it is inevitable that a balance must be reached. In the short stories “Totem” by Thomas King, and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the theme of overdeveloped social beliefs have proven to be the most significant. In both stories, the author is trying to say that society is either too equal, such as in “Harrison Bergeron” or too contrasting such as in “Totem.”
A piece of literature that has a strong theme of equality was The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. A character that definitely showed that was Dally. Dally was the tough guy of the group, a stone faced criminal. “Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested by the age of ten” (Chapter 1 Page 10). This quotes shows Dally’s past and how he’s always been a thug and has known no other life. After the first few chapters Dally doesn't make many appearances but when he does they play a huge role. Every time Dally appears in the story he seems, softer. Towards the middle point Johnny and Ponyboy have to run away from the cops, so Dally brings them in tells them where to go and gives them whatever they needed to run away. Near the end of the story is where he definitely changed, after Johnny is hospitalized he is depressed because Johnny is really the only one he sympathizes for and cares about. This shows how vulnerable he is now with what happened to Johnny so how he would react to even more stuff happening to him is unknown. After the two gangs had their fight(s) Dally and Ponyboy speed down to the hospital to see Johnny but they were too late. By the time they got there Johnny was on his last legs and after a few words he died, sending Dally into an emotional breakdown. Dally bangs his fist on the wall yells at Johnny’s corpse and eventually runs away.
Equality appears to be the ideal factor that can perfect a society. It eliminates the need to feel envious of any human or their qualities. Nevertheless, with impartiality comes lack of diversity and ambition. Inequality is the entity that provides individuals with the passion to strive for a better life. If everyone has already reached their full potential there is no purpose for living. The short novel “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut presents a futuristic portrayal of a world where everyone is equal in every way possible. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Vonnegut displays the clear flaws in society that lead to the creation of a horrific dystopia that lacks genuine human emotions, fails to develop as a civilized community and is strictly government
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
Hattenhauer, Darryl. “The Politics of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Harrison Bergeron’.” Studies in Short Fiction. 35-4. (1998): 387. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Equality 7-2521 embodies this essential idea throughout the story because of his eternal struggle with not quite being able to conform to society’s expectations. He is physically different from the others (Rand, 1946, p. 2) as well as mentally different as he disagreed with others even as a child (p. 4) and was smarter than the rest (p. 5), and this mental sharpness is carried into adulthood as he is able to discern the feelings of oppression and fear that weigh over all men in this time (Rand, 1946, p. 30). Rather than acting as a machine, he feels preferences and desires within himself. Equality 7-2521 enjoys science, dreams of being a Scholar, likes a pretty girl, and wonders about himself. Since these things are not shared by all, they are forbidden, and despite how simple they may be, they define
The individual is required to comply with society’s ideals. In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut sets the scene in this futuristic community when he begins, “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal … They were equal every
To sum up, Vonnegut criticizes an illusion of a utopia by punishing individuality and using technology to control society. The pressure of having a perfect society was important to be sustained. This is still a prevalent issue to this day as many nations struggle to achieve this goal. Vonnegut takes notice of the society’s lies and uses “Harrison Bergeron” to
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.
“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).
Kurt Vonnegut’s writing style is satirical and conveys underlying messages on human nature and present society. In “All the King’s Horses”, Vonnegut talks about how we are all pawns in the game of life and that man is become machine like. In “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” Vonnegut talks about how the future may not be as we all hope it will be, that we aren’t as advanced in technology or space travel as we hope we will be in the near or far future. He also uses irony in this short story when he uses processed seaweed and sawdust as the anti aging drug. In “Harrison Bergeron” Vonnegut talks about how a utopian society could never work in reality as people are all unique in every aspect, we are smarter than others or not as smart, we are beautiful to some and ugly to others, we are fast and we are slow, we are human, and humans are not perfect.
Rackstraw, Loree. “The Vonnegut Cosmos.” The North American Review 267.4 (Dec. 1982): 63-67. JSTOR. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
In conclusion, the complete freedom and absolute equality have been a goal of innumerable societies throughout human history. However, these two ideal cannot exist together in their most perfect forms because the perfect forms of either freedom or equality represent total chaos or total oppression, as we can see in “Harrison Bergeron,” the consequences of sacrificing freedom for perfect equality. The author uses the story of this imaginary perfect world where everyone is happy to demonstrate that a society in which total equality exists is not only oppressive, but also inert and unproductive. Using his futuristic scenario, the simplicity of the society, and the actions of his characters, Vonnegut makes his point of view of a repressive society. In addition, societies that try to create total equality have almost always proven to be oppressive, such as China.
The story clearly illustrates that when one thinks of their ideal lifestyle they mainly rely on their personal experience which often results in deception. The theme is conveyed by literary devices such as setting, symbolism and iconic foreshadowing. The abolition of slavery was one step forward but there are still several more steps to be made. Steps that protect everyone from human trafficking and exploitation. Most importantly, racism is something that needs to stop, as well as providing equal opportunity to all without discrimination.