Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” expresses a very interesting concept that society holds in the year 2081. Vonnegut’s story explains how everyone is equal in society due to several amendments to the Constitution. People who were above normal—whether a person is more intelligent, prettier or more talented—needed to wear a mental handicap radio issued by the government, weights or masks to prevent them from being unequal. Throughout the plot, there are many examples of the government controlling people in society to ensure that no one rebels against their power. Harrison Bergeron is a character in the story who is under-handicapped; he rebeled against the government and tried to show others that there is more to life than what
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He had very heavy handicaps and needed advanced technology to control him. Harrison was so strong that “he had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up...he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses” so that it would give him headaches and make him half blind (Vonnegut 4). In today’s society, a person with extreme abilities—like the ones Harrison has—would be seen as a superhero such as Superman or the Hulk. Young children dream to have abilities that grant them with such strong powers, and to see a society in the future frown upon something that today’s society praises, is quite interesting. With today’s constant advancement in technology, Vonnegut’s story displays how damaging it could be on the …show more content…
It was a very interesting short story to read and a scary possible reality that could appear in the near future. Vonnegut’s story brought up good points in fighting for equality. In my opinion, people fight for equal treatment, but not being equality in every possible aspect of a person. Being different individually is what makes a person unique and interesting. If every person is exactly the same in society, when a problem emerges, it prevents people from forming different perspectives to solve the problem. There is also no meaning to a person’s life if they can’t form their own thoughts and opinions. The use of advanced technology could be detrimental to a society and used for the wrong reasons. This is why it’s important to have the freedom to speak your mind. After reading this short story, is it possible that the future will come out to be this way? If yes, how do you think these laws will be implemented and who will have a big impact on this implementation? If not, what do you think the future will be like and how will the themes expressed in this short story impact that
He had very heavy handicaps and needed advanced technology to control him. Harrison was so strong that “he had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up...he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses” so that it would give him headaches and make him half blind (Vonnegut 4). In today’s society, a person with extreme abilities—like the ones Harrison has—would be seen as a superhero such as Superman or the Hulk. Young children dream to have abilities that grant them with such strong powers, and to see a society in the future frown upon something that today’s society praises, is quite interesting. With today’s constant advancement in technology, Vonnegut’s story displays how damaging it could be on the …show more content…
It was a very interesting short story to read and a scary possible reality that could appear in the near future. Vonnegut’s story brought up good points in fighting for equality. In my opinion, people fight for equal treatment, but not being equality in every possible aspect of a person. Being different individually is what makes a person unique and interesting. If every person is exactly the same in society, when a problem emerges, it prevents people from forming different perspectives to solve the problem. There is also no meaning to a person’s life if they can’t form their own thoughts and opinions. The use of advanced technology could be detrimental to a society and used for the wrong reasons. This is why it’s important to have the freedom to speak your mind. After reading this short story, is it possible that the future will come out to be this way? If yes, how do you think these laws will be implemented and who will have a big impact on this implementation? If not, what do you think the future will be like and how will the themes expressed in this short story impact that