How would it would feel if all talents, strengths, and happiness were taken away and everyday life was limited? In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, people live in a dystopian society. The government takes over and makes everyone equal, but not in a good way. The government’s definition of “equal” is making everyone exactly the same. The people that have a certain talent or strength have to wear different types of handicaps. Many people have to wear different types of gadgets and handicaps to bring down their talents and strengths, so that nobody gets competitive or gains any advantages over each other. Everything is cruel, unfair, and depressing, and the government is responsible for ruining everything. George, Harrison,
…show more content…
Since he was brave and smart enough to rebel and set things right, the government put the most heavy and harsh handicaps on him. Harrison had “scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard” (Vonnegut 3). This shows that Harrison’s handicaps were the most heavy and cruel, because the government targets him to make him too weak to be able to stand out and change society. Harrison then said “now watch me become what I can become” (Vonnegut 4). Harrison said this during his speech to everyone in the theater during the time that he managed to get on live TV. When he said this, he meant that he was tired of being treated horribly and put in handicaps by the government. After that, he chose an empress from the frightened crowd of ballerinas and took off a ballerina’s mask and danced with her. But it was all over when the government officials came in and killed them both with a …show more content…
It’s not quite the perfect definition of equality, and this is how the government messes it all up. In the end, Harrison and the ballerina were dancing in the theater after they declared themselves emperor and empress. Sadly, they got shot and killed by the people that worked for the government. Everything was over, and the government stayed in control over all the people and they remained handicapped. There are many dangers of the society, such as getting hurt or killed for trying to rebel, and the theme of the story is overcontrolled, limited, and
Since he was brave and smart enough to rebel and set things right, the government put the most heavy and harsh handicaps on him. Harrison had “scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard” (Vonnegut 3). This shows that Harrison’s handicaps were the most heavy and cruel, because the government targets him to make him too weak to be able to stand out and change society. Harrison then said “now watch me become what I can become” (Vonnegut 4). Harrison said this during his speech to everyone in the theater during the time that he managed to get on live TV. When he said this, he meant that he was tired of being treated horribly and put in handicaps by the government. After that, he chose an empress from the frightened crowd of ballerinas and took off a ballerina’s mask and danced with her. But it was all over when the government officials came in and killed them both with a …show more content…
It’s not quite the perfect definition of equality, and this is how the government messes it all up. In the end, Harrison and the ballerina were dancing in the theater after they declared themselves emperor and empress. Sadly, they got shot and killed by the people that worked for the government. Everything was over, and the government stayed in control over all the people and they remained handicapped. There are many dangers of the society, such as getting hurt or killed for trying to rebel, and the theme of the story is overcontrolled, limited, and