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Analysis of Harrison Bergeron in the Eponymous Novel by Kurt Vonnegut

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Analysis of Harrison Bergeron in the Eponymous Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
Dystopian Society Essay
(Harrison Bergeron)

Everyone have his or her own idea of a dystopian society. A dystopian society is a world in which everything in a place or state is unpleasant or bad, normally a governmental or environmental degraded one. Harrison Bergeron is just that. Harrison lives in a society where everyone is equal. The government made everyone equal by making the middle class and middle class equal to the lower class using ‘Handicaps’. No one is stupider, uglier, weaker, or slower than anyone else. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote the story in 1961. The story takes place in the year 2081. Thanks to the amendments 211, 212, and 213 America is totally equal. Majority of the story is at the Bergeron’s house, or at a TV station where Harrison takes off all his handicaps. The main symbolism that takes place in this story is the character Harrison himself. He represents the individuality that still exists in Americans in 2081. He also represents the power with in. When he breaks in to the TV studio he announces that he is emperor. He also represents that you don’t need people to tell you what you can and cat do, after he took off all of his handicaps he shows that he has physical strength and beauty and that he’s talented. He does end up dying because he broke the law. The main character in the story is Harrison Bergeron he’s a fourteen-year-old boy who gets taken away from his home because he has to have handicaps added to him. His mother’s name is Hazel Bergeron and she can’t remember things because of her handicaps. His fathers name is George Bergeron and he has a handicap that is a little radio that makes a beeping sound, which makes him forget what he was thinking or saying. Diana Moon Glampers is the handicapper General, and she kills Harrison and his empress. The main conflict is man vs. society. Harrison wants to be free and be the true him, being about to see, hear and think normally with out the government controlling him.

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