Irony In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

John. C. Maxwell, a writer, and a priest, once said “There are two kinds of pride, ‘good pride’ represents our dignity and self-respect. ‘Bad’ pride is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance” (Quotefancy). Just as there are two sides to pride there are two sides to every human trait, each trait has an advantage and a disadvantage. Being stubborn could mean working towards goals until they have been achieved, or it could mean closing one’s mind so much so they miss out on opportunities they are not looking for. John Maxwell’s paradox of traits is shown through the idea of equality in Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s “Harrison Bergeron”. In this story the society is led to believe everyone is equal because of handicaps, but

The story of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is about a dystopian future of America that forces its citizens to be completely equal. The way that they enforce the rules is by forcing the strong to wear weights and the intelligent to be given mental handicaps. The style of writing Vonnegut uses to portray his story of equality is very subtle. Vonnegut uses diction, imagery, and syntax, to help the reader understand the characters, mood, and visuals.

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” contains quite a bit of irony. In this particular period of time, all people are required to be the equal physically and mentally. If they are superior to other people, they will be forced to wear handicaps in order reduce their capabilities to make them like other normal people. The story contains examples of situational, verbal and dramatic irony.

In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut uses sound to foreshadow later events in the story. George, the dad of Harrison, has a mental handicap that prevents him from thinking about things too long. To prevent him from thinking, a loud and sharp noise goes off. One example of a noise foreshadowing later events is when George was thinking about the handicaps of the ballerinas that are dancing on tv. George says it “Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen hammer”(2). When the handicap went off it made him forget what he was thinking about and sounded like something being destroyed. This is foreshadowing when Harrison breaks into the dance studio after he escapes out of prison. He tears the door off its hinges

Kurt Vonnegut published “Harrison Bergeron” to express his thoughts of what a world with equality might look like. The setting of this takes place in front of a TV to emphasis how much is it looked to for answers. The government wants everyone the same and will go to any means necessary. In the constitution, “all men are created equal” can be found, and this short story explores the ideas of when that sentence is taken too literal. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Vonnegut paints his readers a picture illustrating the dangers of conforming three different individuals, Hazel, George, and Harrison, to the same level of expectation through the power of government control and television.

Harrison Bergeron, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, is not written for the light reader. This story of equality shows deeply of how horrid it would be to be born special, different, smarter, faster, stronger, etc, in a world where you are forced to be equal. Despite the usual connotation of the word equality, Kurt Vonnegut looks at the cost of making everyone be the same. He has shown through his words the torture you must endure in order to make you the same as everyone else, being a radio intending to scatter your thoughts, weights to weigh you down, or even a hideous, grotesque, mask used to hide your charming face. After you’ve lived with these handicaps a man, named Harrison Bergeron, trying to change how things are interrupts your show.

“Harrison Bergeron” is a short story that takes place in a dystopian society where everyone has equal mental and physical capabilities forced on them by the government. In this short story, Harrison Bergeron supposedly plays a big role in society by being ‘the savior,” but his goal to protest against the handicapper general and try and save the society from being handicapped ultimately did not work out in his favor. Harrison symbolizes a savior figure who intends to take down a totalitarian government but fails, which provides the ultimate irony of the story

"If I tried to get away with it, then other people'd get away with it—and soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again…" This statement by George Bergeron sums up Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron" in one line. "Harrison Bergeron" is the story of a futuristic United States in the year 2081, where all individuals are made equal regardless of what their natural born characteristics were. They are made equal both mentally and physically, all to the same measure of intelligence and strength. In "Harrison Bergeron" the society has become apathetic and equally conformed because of the power of the Handicapper General, the forced use of handicaps, and the people within the society who continued to let

In the literary piece “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, we enter a futuristic dystopian society in which all citizens have been forced into equality by a government that rules with corrupt omnipotence. From the very beginning of his hauntingly prophetic tale, Vonnegut lures us in by revealing what our society has devolved into at the hands of the wrong system in power. In the name of equality, the attractive are mutilated, the strong are weakened, and the intelligent are handicapped. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal” (¶1) Vonnegut states in his captivating opening line. Through this dismal tale, Vonnegut reveals that forced and total equality is nothing more than a perilous fallacy. He suggests that complete equality is not as ideal as one might think; in fact, it is more dangerous than we could have ever conceived.

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” has lots of irony. In the story everyone has to be the same and if they are different from other people than they have to wear handicaps so that they are more like most people.

"Harrison Bergeron" is a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. This story symbolizes freedom with the people knowing they have none being the fact that they can't be themselves. The government makes it mandatory not to be prettier, smarter, funnier, or more muscular than anyone else creating much irony when Harrison took off his hanicaps on live television. The government brings in much conflict making everyone be equal and do everything the same. Harrison Bergeron wanted to be himself and was the only one who was willing to face the consequinces.

The subject of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is equality. The theme of this short story is that society should make an effort to value individuality and fairness, in which everyone receives what they need to prosper, instead of universal equality. The forms used to elevate this subject and theme are point of view, syntax, characterization, irony, and humor.

Imagine having to live in a world where everything and everyone are the same. The year 2081, and everybody is finally equal. All were equal, in every way. The way someone looks, think, moves, everything has to be equal. If you were born or is with more than an average Intelligence, the government would put headphones, that alarm every 20 seconds or so, to keep those people with high intelligence to stop thinking. People with visuals that’ll make you want to die of jealousy, is being made to wear the ugliest mask to cover that beauty. People that as strong as hulk have to carry scrap metal all around their body. Not only Harrison has to deal with this - but the people too. Apparently, being same is better than being unique.

In Harrison Bergeron “the year was 2081, and everyone was equal” or so they thought. The people of 2081, believed what they were living in was a Utopia. The author, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., illustrates the Utopia through the idea of equality enforced by the government. In reality The government has power over the people creating a totalitarian society. The totalitarian society blinds people form the dystopia around them. The author uses the fictional characters, George, Hazel, and Harrison to portray the flaws in their societal system that restricts many freedoms held valuable to many today.

A major theme that persists in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s story, Harrison Bergeron, is the correlation of absolute equality and the destruction of talent, creativity and freedom in society. The short story deals heavily with the topic of equality between humankind, taking the concept to an extreme through his predicted world of 2081. In multiple places through the text, you can see the connection between this equal world and the lack of freedom the people are given. The theme is already expressed in the introduction sentence, “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.”. Just that quote explains how equality directly relates to their destruction of talent by