Preview

A Thematic Evaluation Of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
104 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Thematic Evaluation Of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
A thematic evaluation of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron” could contemplate the role of equality among individuals. In society people are created equal, having equal rights, status and opportunity’s. Equality is the state of being equal, having fairness and indifference amongst people . In a since, equality appears to be good in nature and desired. However, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron” offers a gloomier concept of equality in which individuals who are more intelligent than others get fitting with mental handicaps making everyone equal. Vonnegut’s story insinuates creating everyone equal by means of mental handicaps will cut out the need for competition among individuals.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    Vonnegut is attempting to illustrate that equality if taken to an extreme point, can no longer benefit society, but destroy it. Harrison Bergeron lives in a “truly equal” society that puts…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Different Aspects In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Different Aspects In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    Within the story of Harrison Bergeron, there are many different aspects that Kurt Vonnegut wrote about. However, some are easier to identify compared to others. Some of the things and aspects that Vonnegut wrote about in Harrison Bergeron can be clearly identified by the words stated whereas other aspects written about take a bit of thinking about. Beginning with what was directly stated. In the year of 2081, everyone was required to be equal by the government. If some citizens were more better in ways such as stronger, more beautiful, or more intelligent, the government prevented equality by having those citizens to wear “handicaps”. An example of how we can obviously see this is when George and Hazel are watching T.V.. It is stated that,…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What The Future Could Hold In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What The Future Could Hold In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    Many advancements have happened in the United States. Most of them have had positive effects; some have had negative effects. Government intervention has strongly increased as our demographics grows in age and population. Depending on a citizen’s political views, this increased government intervention could be good for the United States, or it could be just the opposite. Few have been living with the same government their whole life, so they wouldn’t know what is legal or illegal. In Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, the future consists of a more strict United States government, strongly overpowering the citizens.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Irony In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page

    Irony In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    Aristotle once said “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” It is hard to try to picture a world where every human being is completely equal. A world where that every human being is forced by any means to has equal wealth, equal intelligence and equal physical beauty. Kurt Vonnegut’s Jr. wrote about such a world in his 1961 short story “Harrison Bergeron”. Vonnegut makes a good use of irony to show how creating absolute equality would require an absurdly oppressive society. Vonnegut uses the characterization of the Bergeron family members, Harrison, Hazel, and George to demonstrate how absolute equality destroys Individuality and also to show the two-facedness of that idealistic society and the danger of total…

    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Can Government Control In Harrison Bergeron
    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Can Government Control In Harrison Bergeron

    In “Harrison Bergeron,” author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. illustrates government control with the characters of George, Hazel Harrison Bergeron, and the society that they live in. Vonnegut Jr. directs his writing to society and people in general who want to achieve total equality, as well as those who put faith into the government when it comes to resolving serious issues. To inform his audience of the dangerous consequences that come with wanting to achieve total equality, Vonnegut Jr. presents imagery, setting, and monotone, and educates the audience on how this also leads to an over-controlled society with no motivation, joy, love, or care.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dystopian Society In Anthem And Harrison Bergeron
    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dystopian Society In Anthem And Harrison Bergeron

    Have you ever wondered what living in a dystopian society is like? Anthem and “Harrison Bergeron” both take place in a society built off equality. Everyone is expected to be the same as the next person. Rand’s Anthem and Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” are different in technology but similar in equality.…

    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    "If I tried to get away with it, then other people 'd get away with it-and soon we 'd be right back to the dark ages again…" This statement by George Bergeron sums up Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 's short story in one line. "Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical story of a futuristic United States in the year 2081, where all individuals are made equal regardless of what their natural born characteristics were. In order to achieve this society needed to be made equal, and controlled.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Metaphors In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Metaphors In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    In “Harrison Bergeron,” individuals are expected to conform to society. People are downplayed and anticipated to meet the lowest standards of society. For example, no one is smarter, better looking, stronger, or quicker than anybody else (1554). If an individual is deemed not average, then they are given a handicap. The protagonist in Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” is considered dangerous and a threat to the government. He bears heavier handicaps than everybody else in his society. He wears big earphones, glasses with thick wavy lenses, and scrap metal that hangs all over him. At the end of the short story, Harrison strips himself of all his handicaps. By stripping himself of his handicaps, Harrison is breaking the chains of his government and defying the laws.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Harrison Bergeron Literary Analysis
    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Harrison Bergeron Literary Analysis

    In the dystopian short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the setting is based on achieving a society where everyone is equal in looks and talent. In order to limit people’s talents and looks, there are handicaps such as sacks to weigh people down, masks to cover pretty faces, and earpieces to distract people with a high intellectual ability. George and Hazel Bergeron’s son, Harrison, is redeemed as a dangerous person for being incredibly strong, smart, and handsome. When Harrison escapes prison and flees to a public area, he attempts to inspire people and tries to live in the past by creating a grande performance. He is later shot by the Handicapper General.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Themes Of Harrison Bergeron
    • 205 Words
    • 1 Page

    Themes Of Harrison Bergeron

    The major theme in “Harrison Bergeron” is true equality is not achievable. In the story all the talented characters with an above average intelligence have to put handicaps on in order to make them function in a similar way to the average characters. The intent of this is to make all the characters equal, however, it only makes them stronger and rebel or makes them weaker than average. One instance where the character is made stronger is with Harrison. A prime example of his strength is when “Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper” (Vonnegut, 4). After he rips the harness of he continues to rip the rest of his handicaps off. Even before he does this, he puts himself above all other characters. When the tv announcer…

    • 205 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    In 2081, society may advance in technology. People may finally cure cancer. However, these goals cannot be met in a dystopian society. In a world where there is oppressive societal control, no one will ever have the right to think outside of the box. Everyone will be forced into an unnaturally equal society where curing cancer is too abnormal to be accepted with open arms. Kurt Vonnegut wrote “Harrison Bergeron,” in which people are forced to wear handicap harnesses in order to diminish any differences one possesses to another. An article states, “... the sports term handicap. It refers to a way to even up a game so that good, average, and poor players can compete as equals” (What If Everyone Were The Same?). Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote the story with the belief that while people may think an equalized utopian American society is ideal, it resembles more of a dystopia due to its depravity in/of keeping an oppressive government pleased.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literary Analysis Harrison Bergeron
    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Literary Analysis Harrison Bergeron

    In my opinion, today’s society has been surrounded by technology and materialism, Kurt says, “Nobody is smarter than anybody else. Nobody is better looking than anybody else. Nobody is stronger or quicker than anybody else.” When I read what words he describe everyone being equal, “smarter,” “better looking,” and “stronger or quicker,” immediately came to my mind that those words are common qualities that people are judged on in today’s society. People are constantly trying to be better than others, In the exact way I believe Kurt choose those words because he feels the same.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examination Day and Harrison Bergeron
    • 697 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examination Day and Harrison Bergeron

    The short stories "Examination Day" by Henry Seslar and "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, both examine the idea of a world where governments have total control over its citizens. The main characters in the stories are Dickie Jordan and Harrison Bergeron. In "Examination Day" discrimination against intelligence is portrayed through Dickie who is eliminated because his "intelligence quotient [was] above the Government regulation." This quote depicts the governments authority in its society and how the government eradicated the people who questioned them through an intelligence exam. The irony of this examination is that success was seen as negative. Whereas, "Harrison Bergeron" explores the theme of forced equality in American society in the not so distant future. Right in the introduction, the three main issues concerned throughout the story are given, " Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution." Thus, absolute equality in intelligence, physical beauty, and athleticism have been ratified into law by the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, respectively. Both stories share a conflict in regards to person versus society and both the protagonists die at the end. In "Examination Day" Dickie is on his own when it comes to the test given by the government. Before the test when Dickie asks his father what the test is for, his father tells him"the Government wants to know how smart [Dickie] is." Later on, the story ends with an automated message from the government with the reason for his death and preferred funeral arrangements. In "Harrison Bergeron" Harrison knew better than to follow government regulations and tried to make a difference. In the end, he was killed as "Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper…

    • 697 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Harrison Bergeron
    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Harrison Bergeron

    “All men are created equal” these are the words of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson believed we should live in a world like this, but are we meant to live in a society where everyone is equal and normal? The ideas of egalitarianism can be dangerous if they are interpreted too literally. The agonizing and frustrating normal world in which “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. shows a civilization in which being normal is the only life style that people can live. Beauty is not beauty in this story; in fact it is the complete opposite. Can someone reach their full potential without feeling good about themselves? Is it possible to live life in a world like this? Potential, freedom, and beauty are all abominations in the society of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., but they are all but abolished in this generation of “normal people” where being unique is deemed as illegal. No one is better, everyone is worse. But in a world where the extraordinary is outlawed, only the outlaws are extraordinary.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between Harrison Bergeron And Today's Society
    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Similarities Between Harrison Bergeron And Today's Society

    Although the comparisons are well hidden both today’s society and the story ‘Harrison Bergeron’ share a good amount of similarities. They both have to deal with equality, which leads to problems and consequences. Secondly having to deal with competition and trying to prevent it from occurring, which also leads to problems. Lastly both struggle with normality, and it’s hard to accept that different is okay now.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More