Equality Argument Essay “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal.” these are the first words read in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is about a future where everyone in the world is, “not only equal in front of God and the law”, but also equal in every which way, like knowledge and looks and physical ability. In the story, a couple is watching tv and witness their arrested son break into a ballet and dance a wonderful dance only to be shot dead by the handicapper general herself. That leaves a question, what the reader can easily tell from the story is that the author believes that equality is a bad thing. To end, I believe that equality is not what we should need one hundred percent but give everyone an equal chance and see where they take it.
To start, why would equality be so bad? From the first view, equality sounds like a good thing. Everyone gets equal treatment, pay, etc. But what about when a serial killer gets the same treatment a veterinarian. How fair would it be for someone who saves animals lives to be treated the same publically as someone who's murdered, multiple people? After seeing this, equality can seem fairly split, but there's also a difference, there's equality then there's equity. Equality would be people treated equal, especially socially and equal opportunities, while equity is definite fairness. That means people brought down or up to meet the same level. What I believe was exhibited in the story “Harrison Bergeron”, was not equality, but actually equity. This can be seen by them bringing people down from their abilities or up to meet a standard to make everyone equal. As the story states, “A little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times”, that means they are bringing some people down to the same level but at the same time not bringing people up to that level. “Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else”, the idea of this, in theory, seems clever. Everyone equal in every single way, even mentally. But the more the reader may think of it, they see little holes. There's no drive to get better, no devotion to beat something, there's just what it is and the reader can't do anything to get
In the reading “Harrison Bergeron” the author Kurt Vonnegut Jr demonstrates how the three main characters; George, Hazel and Harrison act in this new futuristic society. We get a small glimpse of what the year 2081 will most likely be made of. This will be ruled by the agents of the United States Handicapper General. The people will be force to be equal in every way; their appearance, their intelligence, their religion, etc. We get to see people who obey the laws as well as people who want to overthrow the government. In this futuristic society, intelligence plays a huge role as well since we witness how people with different levels are treated like George, Hazel and Harrison. The theme of this reading is that forced equality is dangerous
In 2081 everyone was treated equally due to laws 211th, 212th, and 213th. Can you imagine a world where nobody could be smarter or stronger than anyone else? In “Harrison Bergeron” the law said that everyone was supposed to be equal in every way but everyone was not truly equal. Everyone in “ Harrison Bergeron” were being treated equally because they are being treated differently, they have leaders that are treating them poorly, and all of these problems could be because of laws 211th, 212th, and 213th.
The short-story, “Harrison Bergeron”, take place in 2081, in a future controlled by the Totalitarian government. The fact that the plot takes place in the future is crucial because it is meant as a warning of a possible future. The first line of the story is “The year was 2081 and everyone was finally equal” This phrase addresses the reader and our idea of making people equal instead of equitable. George references life before the second revolution, which would be our present, and how everyone was competing with each other. Even after reminiscing about the past, George and Hazel agree the present is
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
In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, the government creates an oppressed society by making everybody equal. Set in 2081, the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments are added to the Constitution to create true equality. The strong are required to wear weights, the intelligent are required to wear radios that emit painful noises, and the beautiful are required to wear masks. This shows that the government is trying to create physical and mental equality by handicapping the gifted to the level of the average. This creates an oppressed society because instead of improving
In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Vonnegut expresses the dangers that could be caused in total equality. He deliberates the pain his characters have to endure through their handicaps they received from the government to assure equality in society. Vonnegut explores the dangers that total equality brings to society. Harrison’s attempt to free people of their equality is accompanied by Harrison’s parents, sitting on the couch having to deal with their handicaps while trying to focus on Harrison’s message. Equality is thrived for, however, equality undermines freedom and living.
There is no true definition of equality as there are many ways to interpret its meaning. Kurt Vonnegut defines equality as everyone being the same in terms of intelligence, looks, and athletic ability. This type of equality creates a society that cannot think or act on its own. The author creates a lifestyle that he believes would be contributable to today's society. Vonnegut uses examples of imagery and irony in his short story "Harrison Bergeron" to depict an overall theme of equality.
Have you ever pondered over the equality of everyone? Well, if you believe that equality is important, you may want to think again. In the dystopian short story, “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut, the author, uses satire to convey his message. Satie is something meant to make fun of or show the weakness of human nature or a particular person. Vonnegut’s message is that not everyone must be equal in every way.The character, Harrison Bergeron, wants to make everyone understand that being equal comes with a consequence, the decline of freedom and individuality, but he got shot so metaphorically the idea of freedom and individuality died with him.
In today’s world, equality is quite a hot topic being thrown about. With the help of Kurt Vonnegut and Chandler Tuttle with kind of have an idea of what really equality could look like. The question I think they are trying to pose is do we really want equality? Both stories are quite similar but have a few differences which affects the way the perceive different stories. The story is mainly about a time in the future where all people would be equal to both God and Law. Some people like Harrison, will dislike being made equal to others because they believe, they are being denied a chance to achieve their full potential.
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.
Kurt Vonnegut wrote a short story called “Harrison Bergeron.” This story takes place in a world where everyone is one hundred percent equal through restraining anyone with an above average natural anything. It start of with the George and Hazel Bergeron watching television. Then a strong and intelligent young man named Harrison Bergeron made the choice to appear on that broadcast and speak against the handicaps before getting shot by the Handicapper General. This story shows that individuality makes perfect equality an impossibility, because human nature can 't be suppressed.
The goal of countless societies throughout human history has been to establish both complete freedom and absolute equality. However, this goal is, by its very nature, unachievable. These two ideal states cannot coexist in their most perfect forms. Also, the perfect forms of either freedom or equality represent total chaos or total oppression, respectively. In Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” we see the consequences of sacrificing freedom for perfect equality. Vonnegut uses the story of this utopia gone wrong to demonstrate that a society in which total equality exists is not only oppressive, but also static and inefficient. He makes this point using his futuristic
Personally i think equality is giving everyone the same opportunities and rights regardless of their differences. I do not agree with the idea of equality in Harrison Bergeron. In the story they were trying to make everyone equal but even with all their handicaps the people in harrison bergeron were still not equal. For an example the handicapper generals in the story were not handicapping people based on the trait of leg length so one person could have less of a chance of being late because he or she is taller than most people in which he or she would take bigger steps resulting in arriving at their destination faster. although this is an extreme example it still gets the point across that equality is an impossible goal. Instead of trying
"The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal," the story begins. "They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way." (Vonnegut 1968:7) In this haunting story, Vonnegut probably wanted to warn our society of similar kind of equality, equality that can be fatal for human race.
Imagine if we were equal in all ways. Think about being exactly the same in all aspects; the same haircut, intelligence level, the same routine everyday over and over again. In the short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, it shows us the theme of equality through a futuristic dystopian society, which can relate to the society we live in today. In the dystopian society, Harrison is an athlete and is extremely intelligent.