Compare And Contrast A & P And Harrison Bergeron

The meaning of freedom can be a very board subject. Freedom, which can mean a great deal for one person can mean something totally different to the next. John Updike’s “A&P” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” both deal with quite the same aspect of freedom. In “Harrison Bergeron” the character Harrison wanted independence from a society that did not allow any freedom. Intelligent individuals couldn 't think or speak about certain things, in fear of repercussions. The freedom to be unique was taken from them, and if they went against any of the laws they suffered the consequences of being imprisoned (like Harrison). In a society where equality is heavily pushed upon the members, the lesson to be learned is without some …show more content…
The story takes place in the future, in which all individuals are equal. Equal by intelligence, physical appearance, basically anything that would make one person different from the other. To insure equality the more intelligent people were forced to wear devices around their necks to hinder their thinking, and attractive people had to wear a sort of mask on their face. I would imagine the government did this in order to eliminate unnecessary conflict between people, and emotions in this “perfect society”. In the beginning we are introduced to George and Hazel Bergeron who have recently had there teenage son Harrison taken away. Harrison was not one to conform with the control the government put onto all members of the society, the government took this as a treat; therefore Harrison was taken from his parents and was sent to jail. Hazel having average intelligence couldn 't remember very well about her son, and since George was given the “handicap” device because of his above average intelligence he was unable to think very hard about anything let alone his son for more than a short time. These factor play a great deal as the story moves along. One day as George and Hazel were watching tv a special news broadcast comes up about an escaped prisoner, the news reporter stumbles over his words causing a ballerina (from …show more content…
For example Harrison was a bit naïve to think nothing was going to happen after he claimed he was the new ruler, his actions caused him to be killed. Likewise, Sammy quit his job in hopes the girls would possible hangout with him, only come to find out the girls were gone, and he was without a job. Another similarity lies within the sense of superiority Harrison and Sammy feel over others. Harrison felt as though his society needed a new ruler, a ruler who would be able to change the current rules of government. He didn 't like the idea of every single thing being equal. This idea pushed Harrison to the point where he knew the only way of accomplishing his goal was to escape jail, then go to the broadcasting building (where many of the citizens would see him via the television) and make it known that “[he] [was] the emperor!”(Vonnegut 464). By removing his handicap and other devices Harrison automatically became superior to everyone else. In comparison, Sammy thought of the people n his town as inferior subjects to himself; I infer this by how he spoke of them. Even though he was no different form the types of individuals he talked about, for some reason he though he was better than them. Lastly, Harrison and the girls in the bathing suits both caused a commotion. From the point the girls entered the store, to the point of their leave majority of eyes