Harrison Bergeron and American Documents
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, is a short story which takes place in the year 2081 in a "perfectly equal world." This story was made as a way to interpret the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The ideas that were interpreted from the bill of rights and the declaration in this story were put in a way that often messes with our other rights or does not look at every aspect of the right affected. The story's main idea is the sense that everybody is finally "equal," so much so that anybody who is better than anybody else is put into restraints that weigh them down or make them look worse. This way they can be equal. This idea is based off of one of the most well known sayings in the Declaration: “All men are created equal.” Though this may be how some exaggerate speech if they don’t read the entire text, what is said following this line is, “That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” When the founding fathers stated that all men are created equal, they were referring to …show more content…
The first amendment of the Bill of Rights states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." This entire amendment can be seen changed in the story, but the freedom of speech is something that has been taken away. People were not able to speak their mind since the majority of citizens have a hard time even keeping a thought due to implants in their ears.. The one time freedom of speech was shown in this story, the person who spoke up was shot and killed to maintain peace and
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, is a short story which takes place in the year 2081 in a "perfectly equal world." This story was made as a way to interpret the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The ideas that were interpreted from the bill of rights and the declaration in this story were put in a way that often messes with our other rights or does not look at every aspect of the right affected. The story's main idea is the sense that everybody is finally "equal," so much so that anybody who is better than anybody else is put into restraints that weigh them down or make them look worse. This way they can be equal. This idea is based off of one of the most well known sayings in the Declaration: “All men are created equal.” Though this may be how some exaggerate speech if they don’t read the entire text, what is said following this line is, “That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” When the founding fathers stated that all men are created equal, they were referring to …show more content…
The first amendment of the Bill of Rights states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." This entire amendment can be seen changed in the story, but the freedom of speech is something that has been taken away. People were not able to speak their mind since the majority of citizens have a hard time even keeping a thought due to implants in their ears.. The one time freedom of speech was shown in this story, the person who spoke up was shot and killed to maintain peace and