Harrison Bergeron Literary Analysis

Hazel and George casually discuss the subject of being in Diana’s situation as Handicapper General. Hazel was under the belief that she could do as good as a job being a Handicapper General as any other person could. Hazel expresses this belief through saying, “I’d have chimes on Sunday-just chimes. Kind of in honor of religion,” (2). This reveals Hazel’s cluelessness to the government’s reasoning for having a Handicapper General. Hazel’s ideal image of a Handicapper General proves to not be someone worthy to be able to keep society in order. Diana’s job is to keep everyone in line and make sure that no laws are being broken. By Hazel implying that she would use chimes and honor a religion, people would not likely recognize the superiority Hazel would have over them, which would lead to society not following the laws and respecting Hazel’s orders because she isn’t intimidating. Yet another instance where Hazel’s incognizant tone towards society is shown is when Hazel witnessed her own son’s death on live television. Watching what was on the television, Hazel was unable to comprehend what just

Hazel is demonstrating that she really wants her mom to have fun during their trip instead of wasting this opportunity because of her. Her mom, however, appears to be secretly worried. Her parents should be, but simply saying what Hazel would want to hear to have her ease on her plans. It is clear by now that Hazel feels some kind of guilt for something she cannot control, her body, and would do or say anything to make her parents’ lives easier.

Literary devices will be a primary source used to compare and contrast the narrative and stylistic choices made in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, and the film 2081 directed by Chandler Tuttle. In the film the director is able to express visuals, sounds, and physical characters, to establish a firm idea of how the characters within the story act and feel based on their surroundings and what is happening around them. However, an Author in a short story is reliant on his words alone to paint the picture for the reader to understand the movement of the plot and its impact on the atmosphere. The literary devices used in creating and shaping pieces of literature will heavily impact the point of view of the

He is also always up for a risk even if it means that he is risking himself but he will not let others get harmed or left behind. He is always going to be confident by going someplace where he doesn't know what he is going to find. They left the original warren because Fiver says he can see into the future, he says something bad is going to happen soon so a couple of the rabbits leave and they gather more rabbits along the way. “‘Fiver and I will be leaving the warren tonight,’ he said deliberately. ‘I don't know exactly where we shall go, but we’ll take anyone who is willing to come with us’” (page 14). Hazel is strong and brave and is willing to go anywhere to help his friends from not being harmed by anything that they may come across. Being brave really helps the leader be a better leader than they already are because they are confident enough to do what is needed although it may scare them. Although Hazel got injured because of the men that came to kill and hurt the rabbits, he still powered through the pain and was a great leader even while he was hurt. Hazel was strong even when he go hurt from running away from the men and falling into a hole that he couldn't get out of. When Hazel was missing because he was in the woods and injured his friends were looking for him because they need him around for them to be safe. Hazel is great at doing what is needed like finding food to survive and helping others get where they need to be. Hazel is always super supportive, for example when they were at the new warren one day the went outside and they found an injured bird and Hazel demanded that they help him and make him get better. Hazel told all of the other rabbits to find food for the bird Kehaar. “‘I believe it's starving,’ said Hazel. ‘We'd better feed it. Bigwig, go and get some worms or something. There's a good fellow’” (page 181) Hazel is being a leader here because he is telling Bigwig to go

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.

There is a sense of rebellion throughout the story that reminds the reader of what it’s like to be a child. As a child I can remember talking back, and when something didn’t go my way I would pout and “give (them) some lip.” (Bambara 450) Having this sense of rebellion makes it feel like you can do whatever you want with no price to pay. However, this again shows the rebellious nature of Hazel helping the reader realize she is a child. Even when Hazel talks to the manager of the movie theater she is courageous enough to “…kick the door open…and sit down...” (Bambara 451)and demand the manager her money back. She even puts up an argument to get out of punishment with her parents when she knows she has done something wrong. The connectivity between these two ideas help

Picture a society, far in the future, where everyone, by government control, must be on the same level. Would this be Hell or a utopia? This is the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron”. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear multiple handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks. In turn, these constraints leave the world equal, or arguably devoid of, from brains to brawn to beauty. With the constant push for equality among all people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. “Harrison Bergeron” is written as a form of satire with heavy irony, to demonstrate the clear difference between equity and equality in society. “Harrison Bergeron” is

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.

The desire to be different in a world full of people trying to be equal, is a challenge most people have encountered. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut, the main character, or the character which the story is based upon, lives in a futuristic society, which the government has tried to make equal. Harrison is forbidden to use his above average intelligence and physic to stand out, or to become anything more than equal to the average person. The reader becomes aware that Harrison has been imprisoned due to rebellion against the government, which controls his every move or action. Harrison escapes from prison, breaks rules, and is ultimately killed for his actions. Harrison’s character development and desire to be different

Hazel grace is incredibly sarcastic throughout the book. A quote from the book is, on page 24; Hazel says “I didn’t tell him that the diagnosis came three

Third, Hazel is a person to admire since she’s humorous. Specifically, Hazel talks about her diagnosis with Stage four thyroid cancer when she was thirteen. “(I didn’t tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You’re a woman. Now die)” (Green 24). This shows Hazel is a person to admire since she is humorous because she jokes about the irony of her becoming a woman to soon be basically diagnosed with character and most likely dying instead of being depressed or self-pitying. Lastly, Hazel is a person to admire since she is smart. In particular, when first conversing with Augustus in the car, she mentions that due to her condition, she had to drop out of from high school, and she can’t go back since she already has taken her GED so now she taking classes from the local community college. This shows that Hazel is a person to admire since she is smart because although, she has dropped out of school, she was still able to take the quite tough test, GED, in order to do so, and seems to be fine taking college level classes at her age of sixteen. Therefore, Hazel is funny and smart, making her a person to admire. In conclusion, the main character in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Hazel Grace Lancaster, is an admirable

Hazel has a strong identity in the story, she has much self-confidence and is not afraid of letting everyone know that she is the best, “Now some people like to act like things come easy to them, won’t let on that they practice. Not me. I’ll high-prance down 34th street like a rodeo pony to keep my knees strong even if it does get my mother uptight.” p. 1 ll. 29-31. Thus her strong and proud personality, she still loves and protects Raymond and is not afraid of showing this either. At the end of the story Hazel’s view on other people changes, when she sees Raymond running parallel with her at the May Day race in his own unique style. She realizes that everyone is not just who she sees them to be, that there are more to people than you can

Kurt Vonnegut’s unique story “Harrison Bergeron,” displays a theme which is a warning about the dangers of equality, which is equality is a hindrance to an individual’s success and society’s success, but this hindrance is ironically, unequal. In the story, Harrison and his bride are arrested for their unwillingness and inability to stay within the bounds of equality enforced by the Handicapper General. Equality hinders the success of an individual like the weights hinder the beauty and grace of the ballerinas in the story. Equality doesn’t promote everyone to be equally better, but to be unequally worse. Handicaps are no use in ensuring equality, because one’s strengths will always shine through, such as Harrison’s strength and wit, or the

Both Carol S. Dweck and Annie Murphy Paul use the term intelligence in their essays, but they have slightly different meanings. While Carol S. Dweck uses the term intelligence as a measure of how smart someone is that can be expanded through effort, while Annie Murphy Paul uses intelligence in the same manner (a measure of how smart someone is), but in how it can be suppressed.

What makes you unique? Your looks? Your opinions? Your wisdom? Now, imagine living in a society where you are not allowed to stand out and you are forced to be like everyone else. The short story Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, displays a society in which people have to adapt their qualities, such as appearance and intelligence, to fit equal standards. The reader experiences a day in the lives of George Bergeron, a man with an above average intelligence, who is forced to lower his mental capacity to the level of average people like his wife, Hazel Bergeron. The laws and standards in this society are created and controlled by an association called The United States Handicapper General. The author’s message in the book is that total equality