Comparing Vonnegut's And Harrison Bergergon

A Fine Line Imagine a perfect morning—no alarm clocks or neck cricks—just fresh coffee brewing and a nice bacon breakfast. But could this fit every individual’s description of a perfect morning? Of course the no alarm clocks and neck cricks sound nice; however, a vegetarian would easily reject this particular view of a perfect morning. This subjective idea parallels both LeGuin’s and Vonnegut’s warped examples of constant happiness and equality in a society. Ursula K. LeGuin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergergon” both illustrate a blinded utopia where a seemingly good idea results in an undesirable outcome. Though only a few characters grasp this concept, these stories clearly show the ideology of extremes—good and bad—imposing a negative impact on a society. Omelas is a utopia full of all things pleasurable. If they want a simple life, live in Omelas. If they desire the finer things in life—inventive technologies, live music, public orgies—live in Omelas. Since the community of Omelas holds a strong
In Harrison Bergeron’s society, individual advantages and abilities are literally subtracted from their mental and physical body, while the society of Omelas gave away their conscious. However, Vonnegut describes an enforced society where the people of Omelas voluntarily live with their choices. Within each societies intelligence and dignity are taken away. In the city of Omelas only one individual is sacrificed for the entire community, whereas each individual must sacrifice their abilities to appease the less privileged. Unlike Omelas, Harrison Bergeron’s community is forced to wear the handicaps and live in this community because if they disobey they receive a large fine or worse, shot. Although they are hypothetical cases both can be realistically compared to today’s