Equality In Harrison Bergeron

Is it equal in the Harrison Bergeron Book? I think not because if we all are the same then you could not have talent or jobs because who would you hire? It is normal for competition; that's why you have to learn from your mistakes, you can get better or try something else. Someone will always be better than you at something but you have to find your talents and use them.

Everyone in Harrison Bergeron was definitely equal, and not in a good way. A lot of people wish to have equality, but not to this extent. In Harrison Bergeron, everyone was literally and painfully equal. There was no diversity in people in Harrison Bergeron; everyone was completely the same. If I lived in this universe, I would be unbelievably depressed. Although they are completely equal, they do not have tensions between different groups and organizations, and that is a problem in today’s society. No one is created equally, but the officials in the book made equality no problem.

In “Harrison Bergeron”, we are meant to feel bad for George and Hazel Bergeron because of how they are being punished for the kind of people they are mentally and physically, the conflict and ending of their son’s life, and Harrison’s failed rebellion.

A perfect society where everyone is equal due to a variety of handicaps, but is everyone truly equal? In ‘harrison Bergeron” anyone who had any abilities whatsoever are forced to wear different handicaps depending on their ability except for the one person called the handicapper general, who does have power and is in charge of keeping the peace. If anyone disobeyes the law that forces them to wear handicaps, would be put in jail or even killed if they threatened the government's authority. Harrison Bergeron is a 14 year old boy who was put in jail because he had extraordinary abilities and he was suspected of plotting to overthrow the government.

In "Harrison Bergeron", the rule of the story is that the law requires everyone to be equal. To ensure this, they gave handicaps, both physical and mental, to the citizens of the United States because they believe it will guarantee that no one would be stronger or smarter than anyone else. All of this was regulated by the United States Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, but there was one man who seeked to rebel against these handicaps in his misson to gain control and power over everyone else. That man was none other than Harrison Bergeron, and he made it clear when he invaded the ballerina studio and exclaimed,

Do you think our society is truly equal? In the short story of “Harrison Bergeron”, the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments make everyone “equal”. These amendments make nobody faster, stronger, smarter, or as good looking as anyone else. I believe, however, that everyone in that story truly wasn’t equal. I know this because only the gifted of “Harrison Bergeron” had to wear handicaps, the handicapped were treated differently, and only on the outside, were they truly equal.

In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut illustrates his views against government control. This story is mainly about people having their own thoughts, opinions, and ways of living. Harrison was shot by the handicapper general at the ballet because he took off the handicaps so that he could express himself. The handicappers think it is a good idea to make everyone equal to each other so the people would no longer be competing with one another. However, I am going to prove that Vonnegut is trying to show us that everyone cannot be equal because what is the point of living if everyone is the exact same?

Elijah Alfred Christina Elvidge ENG1125 April 10, 2024 Harrison Bergeron Equality In the story “Harrison Bergeron,” the story focuses on the ideal of equality where intelligence and strength have been destroyed in the process. Society issues that’s hurting the citizens. The government wants everybody to be equal. They try to attempt perfection, but it goes horribly wrong. This story highlights larger societal issues and equality, a warning against the extremes of egalitarianism.

Fourteen year old Harrison Bergeron is a passionate character that symbolizes equality in society during the year of 2081. Harrison rebels against the government in a way that shows how everyone in “Harrison Bergeron” was not absolutely equal. This community and its citizens has lost its rights after the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution. Everyone was not actually equal in the story since people could not use their own intelligence, express their true beauty, and display their strengths. The citizens were scared of the United States Handicapper General and they do not have the freedom to be themselves.

In the story the author form of equality will be questioned by the people many times and will eventually fail. Harrison is used in the story to show that people will work nonstop against the handicaps until the system is taken away. “Harrison tore the straps off his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support fire thousand pounds,” (198). There is no competition due to the handicaps that prevent anyone from being equal. There cannot be no improvement anywhere without competition. All critical thinking will end, and all progress that requires thought will be stopped. The author form of equality will never work in any way, because it causes humans to lose confidence and hope and stops all creativity.

Others might say that people like Harrison Bergeron are also treated like him, I say that some people that are above average is treated differently. I say this by how George, in the story, was wearing a handicap too but he was not considered a criminal and disrespected by other citizens. Therefore, everyone in the story was not equal to each other, by how they were treated differently.

For instance, George is still smarter than Hazel with his handicap on. In addition, Harrison is stronger than the average people even with handicaps on. In the text, it states that Hazel could only think and remember in short bursts, while George could remember things and think longer than she can. Hazel doesn’t have any handicaps, but still has less common sense than George. Harrison is clearly strong without his handicaps, but is still very strong with them on. He can rip metal guaranteed to support 5,000 pounds. No ordinary person could rip metal even without handicaps. Some handicaps do prevent people from performing their ability too well, but other handicaps aren’t very effective meaning there is inequality both ways. Therefore, not everyone was truly equal in Harrison Bergeron.

Imagine having a handicap everywhere you go and having a friend who doesn’t have a handicap, because they’re less skilled. Does this make it seem equal?  Well, it seem like the story “Harrison Bergeron” will answer that, depending on what you think is equal.  In this case, I find that everyone was not truly equal in “Harrison Bergeron.”

Some may argue while equality is still a hinderance; it still is universally equal, instead of being unequal as the theme displays “equality” to be. They may argue this because of the supposed success of the handicaps, because they inhibit thought, strength, or agility, making sure nobody is superior to anybody else. This is shown by Hazel and George within the text. Hazel is extremely dull, and George is exceptionally smart, but they are both equal, thanks to handicaps. However, this is not always the case, as shown with Harrison and his would-be bride. Harrison’s handicaps are extremely heavy, to ensure that he is equal to everyone else. But he isn’t, being significantly stronger and smarter than everybody else, even with his handicaps. This displays the hindrance that is equality to be unequal.

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if everyone was legally forced into the governments opinion of equality? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron", it is the year 2081 and the government has altered society to be mentally, physically and socially equal. The beautiful people are covered with hideous masks, the intelligent people wear ear pieces that let off loud obnoxious sounds at random to throw off there thought process and the strong people wear weights to be equal to the weaker people. The society is not equal because no one can truly be changed unless they want to be. Putting a handicap on an intelligent person does not make him or her equal to an average person,