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Comparison Of Harrison Bergeron And Harrison Bergeron

Decent Essays

The story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and the short film 2081 directed by Chandler Tuttle have many similarities and differences. Both the story and the short film are about a boy named Harrison Bergeron who escaped from jail and ran off to a theater. He ended up in jail for tearing off his handicaps in public. In their community, people have handicaps in order to be equal in every way. In the short film, Hazel and George Bergeron, Harrison’s parents, switched roles. Harrison also put a bomb under the theater where the ballerinas were performing. Harrison was not even wearing glasses, a red nose, he did not have bad teeth, he even had all his hair and his eyebrows. In these stories people start to realize that the equality they've always wanted is dangerous and in some ways torture. In the story, Hazel and George were both sitting in their living room and watching a ballet performance on TV. Then George gets up and goes to the kitchen and Hazel is alone. A news report comes on the TV and it’s about Harrison. The ballerina explained that Harrison escaped jail and that people should avoid him. The ballerina stated “If you see this boy, do not - I repeat do not - try to reason with him.”(2) In the film this scene changes in some ways. In the film Hazel is the one going to the kitchen to wash dishes and George stays to watch the performance. He forgets everything he sees in a matter a twenty seconds while watching Harrison live on TV. Even though he forgets everything he still has flashbacks from when Harrison was carried out of their house. These changes affect the story because it was from two different point of views. In Hazel’s point of view some things don’t make sense in general. Since her brain is normal, unintelligent, she forgets everything. George is smart and that is why he has a radio transmitter in his ear that sends out noise so that he can forget things. In the film Harrison puts a bomb under the theater where the ballerinas were performing. The bomb could have been fake but it made the film more intense. Harrison states “... there’s a bomb beneath this theater and there’s a detonator in my hand…” minute 9.50-9.58. He also states “I am the greatest person man you have never known”

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