“Harrison Bergeron” is a fictitious story written by Kurt Vonnegut in October of 1961. During the time period in which it was published, the Soviet Union (USSR) was still in power. The Soviet Union was a communist society that used force from “secret police”, whose main objective was to censor the people. The story “Harrison Bergeron” has a similar approach set in a dystopian society in the year 2081. In this society “Everybody was finally equal....Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” (Vonnegut 234,235). This might seem okay at first glance, but the execution and reality of this “equality” is cruel and unusual. Kurt Vonnegut takes equality to the
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It is the foundation in which people have the opportunity to live apon. In “Harrison Bergeron” the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, is the supreme ruler of how this society behaves. What makes her eligible to determine the averages of mental and physical abilities? Perhaps it is based off her own intellectual responsiveness, and her own physical dexterity. If she can “create” everyone to be lesser than her, then of course she can stay in power. There would be nobody to combat her “above” well being. It is actually referenced that “Hazel, as a matter of fact, bore a strong resemblance to the Handicapper General” (Vonnegut 234). And as we have learned, Hazel does not have any handicaps herself, so she must be of average physical appearance. It is very ironic that Diana Moon Glampers resembles someone that is not above average attractiveness. The way in which she eradicates Harrison, with a “double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun” (Vonnegut 238), is perhaps made from the same birdshot used to handicap the ballerinas. This is very symbolic because both are being used as ways to censor the people of this dystopia . This society is being greatly hindered by Diana Moon Glampers, for she is forming it into one that benefits only herself. Meanwhile everybody else struggles to do regular day to day tasks, such as communicating amongst one another. It seems the only task they can do efficiently is sit in front of the television screen and watch
It is the foundation in which people have the opportunity to live apon. In “Harrison Bergeron” the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, is the supreme ruler of how this society behaves. What makes her eligible to determine the averages of mental and physical abilities? Perhaps it is based off her own intellectual responsiveness, and her own physical dexterity. If she can “create” everyone to be lesser than her, then of course she can stay in power. There would be nobody to combat her “above” well being. It is actually referenced that “Hazel, as a matter of fact, bore a strong resemblance to the Handicapper General” (Vonnegut 234). And as we have learned, Hazel does not have any handicaps herself, so she must be of average physical appearance. It is very ironic that Diana Moon Glampers resembles someone that is not above average attractiveness. The way in which she eradicates Harrison, with a “double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun” (Vonnegut 238), is perhaps made from the same birdshot used to handicap the ballerinas. This is very symbolic because both are being used as ways to censor the people of this dystopia . This society is being greatly hindered by Diana Moon Glampers, for she is forming it into one that benefits only herself. Meanwhile everybody else struggles to do regular day to day tasks, such as communicating amongst one another. It seems the only task they can do efficiently is sit in front of the television screen and watch