Similarities Between Harrisonson Hargeron And Harrison Bergerson

Comparing and contrasting Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” and Chandler Tuttle’s 2081 in relation to their characterization of the short story’s namesake is an undertaking chock-full of potential. These two sources are very different in their representation of young Harrison and this serves to completely skew one’s preconceived understanding of his person, motivations, and desires. Due to this subtle but significant variation one can come to the conclusion that the way an individual is portrayed and the words they speak in different genres greatly manipulates others’ perception of their character. This is evident when one analyzes the monologuing and shot choices of the short film or the descriptions and dialogue in the story.

‘2018’ is a dystopian film about equality. Through his acts and qualities, the main character, Harrison Bergeron, is symbolically a Christ Figure. Although they bear some minor differences, the similarities between Harrison Bergeron and Jesus Christ are striking. Even though they fought for different causes, they have three major affinities; both characters were dead and buried, tortured in agony, and seen carrying wood on their shoulders. Firstly, much like Jesus Christ, Harrison was metaphorically dead and buried. When he was taken away from his family, and jailed for years, he was forgotten by the world, and figuratively dead. “...the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away” (page 1 of the short story

A Christ figure can share attributes with Jesus and be the antagonist of the story. In Thomas C. Foster’s novel How to Read Literature like a Professor, he analyzes what a Christ figure looks like in literature. He argues that a character who shares personality traits and or physical characteristics with Christ is a representation and reflection of Jesus. Similarly, in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Poisonwood Bible, her character Nathan Price believes he is synonymous to Christ while in reality, he is far from perfect. She uses irony to exploit the idea of the Christ figure. The use of irony as seen in Kingsolver’s novel, up-ends Foster’s claims as to what makes a Christ figure by creating a character who assumes he is Christ yet does not reflect Christ’s attributes.

The government handicaps George’s mental abilities since they are above average, while Hazel’s mental abilities are average.

If you have ever read the stories “Harrison Bergeron” and Fahrenheit 451 I’m sure you would recognize the similarities and differences between the two. For example, one of the similarities between the books would be how the main characters from Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag and Mildred Montag are very similar to the main characters Harrison and Hazel from “Harrison Bergeron.” The other example of similarity between the two stories would be how the government realized the desire for equality that people have and use that to keep society at below average intelligence levels. One difference that I found between the two stories was how different the restrictions were in each of the stories.

Do you think society would improve if everyone was equal? Even though people may argue with me, I say that everyone isn’t truly equal in the story, Harrison Bergeron. I say this due to how people that are naturally born with above average intelligence, strength, and looks gorgeous has to wear handicaps to hide their unique abilities. Another reason is that some people are either respected or disrespected because of their special talents. Thirdly, some people in the story does not need to follow the law, even if they are a citizen of the United States, which means that everyone does not have equal rights.

The short story ‘Harrison Bergeron’, Written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and the novel ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry both share a theme of forced equality and uniformity. Both stories take place in dystopian worlds. Woven throughout both of the stories are, authority is forcing egalitarianism onto citizens because they want an indefectible civilization. In the short story Harrison Bergeron, the world is ruled by Handicap General were in The Giver the world is ruled by the Elders, so that the community would be equal. But in both stories the protagonist goes against the community to break the peace and gain freedom and demonstrates how the authority always doesn’t know the best.

In the two short stories, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and The Veldt by Ray Bradbury, it can be grasped that people should be allowed to have freedom instead of being completely restrained by an authoritarian figure. Throughout both of these stories, there are a few similarities that prove this argument, however, it is also expressed differently through varying plot elements. First of all, a major similarity between the two stories that is connected to the common topic of freedom is how people defy the rules that are forced onto them in any way possible, regardless of whether they are rational or not. This is due to the fact that the natural human instinct is to seek freedom instead of being trapped by something else. For example, in

Have you ever been told you can’t do something because you are too qualified? In Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” this is what America has turned into in 2081. Vonnegut uses characters in his story to show the effects of a truly “equal” society with what happens when they want everyone equal and what happens to some of their health. Some of the characters he uses are Harrison, George, and the ballerinas.

Science fiction is a genre in which the story is fiction but the topic is what could be.

Technology Takeover: Analyzing Social Criticism in Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt and Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s short story Harrison Bergeron

Everyone has things that they feel isn’t right and should be different, and most people try to change what they think is wrong. Kurt Vonnegut and Carole Boston Weatherford use this universal human feeling in their short stories. In “Harrison Bergeron” he doesn’t like that people are limited because of handicaps and can’t reach their full potential. In “Freedom on the Menu The Greensboro Sit-ins” the characters wants to be able to have the same rights as the whites and starts “sit-ins” to protest. In both “ Harrison Bergeron” and “Freedom on the Menu The Greensboro Sit-ins,” we learn that in life they’re things that you don’t agree with and you have to stand up against, regardless of the outcome either good or bad.

Would you rebel for something you believe in, but everyone else does not? Would you die for the cause of something good and helpful to the world? This is exactly what Harrison did. In Chandler Tuttle’ 2081 and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” Harrison's appearances, beliefs, the equipment used on him, and the responses he receives and produces are important aspects to both medias. Though, the short story and film both have its own unique features that help us connect to his personality. Harrison from “Harrison Bergeron” is a considerate, ignored hero, but also an outsider to the people for his beliefs; since he uses the threatening and self-centered words to express his bitterness and words, many feel he is egocentric, but he has only said this to get his word across, although, in 2081, Harrison is a wise, intellectual, mature, and a Christ-like figure, who appeals to our senses in a better way than Harrison from the short story does explaining why the current system is not effective.

Chapter 14 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor discusses how to identify and the significance of Christ figures in literature. According to the book, Christ Figures are prevalent in literature for various reasons including putting emphasis on the sacrifice of the character or deepening the plot with the parallel to Christ. This works because Christ is an important feature in our culture. I believe that literature from dominantly Christian areas will contain many figures resembling Christ simply because the religion is ingrained in the culture. Foster lists many of the qualities that help to indicate the presence of a Christ figure. Some of these include wounds on hand and feet, and struggle in the wilderness, a sacrificing character,

Could you imagine living in a world without your freedoms? In The Giver and Harrison Bergeron they were forced to until, a boy named Jonas in the give experienced life with all his freedoms and wanted everyone else to experience the same. In Harrison Bergeron their community is similar to The Giver, Jonas and Harrison wants to show the community how they should live, with freedom to speak freedom of their religion, and freedom to choose a job, and a life without perfectness. I think that their communities should live better lives without “perfectness”. A community without perfectness is normal.