In his story, “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., mirrors major governmental ideas displayed during the Cold War. The three major ideas that are most evident are oppressive dictatorship, suppression of personal opinion, abilities, and beliefs, and the governmental system of communism.
The government in the story “Harrison Bergeron,” was run by Diana Moon Glampers, known as the Handicapper General. She was very iron-fisted, in a sense that she had the authority, and if one disobeyed her, the punishment was harsh. Much similar to the Cuban government in the 1960’s, run by the infamous dictator Fidel Castro. Glampers and Castro alike, had the idea that they didn’t want their people to think too far outside of what the government has set …show more content…
This is much like the way that Russia’s government, during the Cold War, kept people quiet who had an opinion that they didn’t agree with. In the story, a minute radio broadcaster was placed into citizens ears to prevent them from thinking but for short bursts at a time. This was assigned to those who had an advanced intelligence. The broadcaster would make tormenting sounds such as 21 gun salutes, milk jugs clattering, buzzers, etc., causing people, at times, to fall over. In the scene where George and Hazel Bergeron are watching ballerinas dance on the television, a sound is broadcasted, and affects George, and some of the ballerinas, so badly that “Two of the eight ballerinas had collapsed to the studio floor, were holding their temples.” The Government had to go to extreme lengths to tamper with citizens thinking, by tormenting them with horrible noises. This demonstrates how the government was against individuals thinking completely …show more content…
Established by Karl Marx, Communism is based upon the principles that all citizens share things, there are no social classes, and any individual has a fighting chance in society. Although the communist system of Russia during the Cold War was corrupt and unjust, it partially made certain things equal, for example, the abolishment of social classes. The governmental system in “Harrison Bergeron” was similar to this, with the intention to make an absolutely equal society. They gave handicaps to every citizen, in order to make sure that nobody was smarter, more athletic, better looking, better vision, etc., than anyone else was. This is illustrated in the scene where George and Hazel Bergeron are watching a television show with ballerinas dancing. George accumulates some thoughts about the show while watching, “He tried to think about the ballerinas. They weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” The masks that the ballerinas were required to wear, cloaked their beauty, so that those who were less beautiful than them wouldn’t feel bad about themselves, making everyone feel
The government in the story “Harrison Bergeron,” was run by Diana Moon Glampers, known as the Handicapper General. She was very iron-fisted, in a sense that she had the authority, and if one disobeyed her, the punishment was harsh. Much similar to the Cuban government in the 1960’s, run by the infamous dictator Fidel Castro. Glampers and Castro alike, had the idea that they didn’t want their people to think too far outside of what the government has set …show more content…
This is much like the way that Russia’s government, during the Cold War, kept people quiet who had an opinion that they didn’t agree with. In the story, a minute radio broadcaster was placed into citizens ears to prevent them from thinking but for short bursts at a time. This was assigned to those who had an advanced intelligence. The broadcaster would make tormenting sounds such as 21 gun salutes, milk jugs clattering, buzzers, etc., causing people, at times, to fall over. In the scene where George and Hazel Bergeron are watching ballerinas dance on the television, a sound is broadcasted, and affects George, and some of the ballerinas, so badly that “Two of the eight ballerinas had collapsed to the studio floor, were holding their temples.” The Government had to go to extreme lengths to tamper with citizens thinking, by tormenting them with horrible noises. This demonstrates how the government was against individuals thinking completely …show more content…
Established by Karl Marx, Communism is based upon the principles that all citizens share things, there are no social classes, and any individual has a fighting chance in society. Although the communist system of Russia during the Cold War was corrupt and unjust, it partially made certain things equal, for example, the abolishment of social classes. The governmental system in “Harrison Bergeron” was similar to this, with the intention to make an absolutely equal society. They gave handicaps to every citizen, in order to make sure that nobody was smarter, more athletic, better looking, better vision, etc., than anyone else was. This is illustrated in the scene where George and Hazel Bergeron are watching a television show with ballerinas dancing. George accumulates some thoughts about the show while watching, “He tried to think about the ballerinas. They weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” The masks that the ballerinas were required to wear, cloaked their beauty, so that those who were less beautiful than them wouldn’t feel bad about themselves, making everyone feel