Harrison Bergeron, written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is what is called dystopian fiction. Dystopian fiction means it is fiction based in a futuristic degraded and broken society. This story is about how government tries to keep equality among all. Equality is based on how they look, how strong they are and how intelligent people are. In this story Vonnegut is really showing the reader that even though complete equality sounds good, it is not achievable and loss of individuality becomes reality. He is also showing that giving too much control to a government will result in the loss of free will. In this story the intelligent people in the society have to wear headsets that play sharp noises every 20 seconds or so disrupt any intelligent thinking (Vonnegut 227). Through the story the noises in the headset got stronger from a buzzer in the beginning to a gunshot in the end. The end gunshot was
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The people who were stronger were forced to carry around heavy amounts of birdshot to make them equal to the weaker people (Vonnegut 227). Birdshot, when used in a gun doesn’t always kill, but it can weaken its target. The stronger members wearing the birdshot around were weakened day after day from wearing this. “You been so tired lately—kind of wore out” (Vonnegut 227). Harrison Bergeron is the main symbol in the story. Harrison Bergeron is an example of everything the government is trying to keep under control. His handicaps include a red rubber ball on his nose and his eyebrows being shaved to destroy his good looks. He has to wear 300 lbs of metal because he is so much stronger than everyone else (Vonnegut 229). He also has to wear thick glasses and incapacitating headphones because he is so intelligent (Vonnegut 229). Harrison escapes from prison, where the government tried to keep him, and is shot by a government official. This is symbolic of a government having too much control and that in reality they couldn’t make everyone
The people who were stronger were forced to carry around heavy amounts of birdshot to make them equal to the weaker people (Vonnegut 227). Birdshot, when used in a gun doesn’t always kill, but it can weaken its target. The stronger members wearing the birdshot around were weakened day after day from wearing this. “You been so tired lately—kind of wore out” (Vonnegut 227). Harrison Bergeron is the main symbol in the story. Harrison Bergeron is an example of everything the government is trying to keep under control. His handicaps include a red rubber ball on his nose and his eyebrows being shaved to destroy his good looks. He has to wear 300 lbs of metal because he is so much stronger than everyone else (Vonnegut 229). He also has to wear thick glasses and incapacitating headphones because he is so intelligent (Vonnegut 229). Harrison escapes from prison, where the government tried to keep him, and is shot by a government official. This is symbolic of a government having too much control and that in reality they couldn’t make everyone