Socialism In Harrison Bergeron

Socialism in America has progressed substantially and is not bettering The United States. Socialism is a political theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. In much lighter terms socialism is where a government owns and runs everything in the country to, in theory, better the nation for the people. To increase the growth and help the economy in America the people need to learn what socialism is, learn why socialism does not benefit America, limit the federal government’s power, and look at statistics of the poor people in America.

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine even brighter. Vonnegut uses satire to explore the question of whether true equality can ever really exist.

Communism is a socialistic system that states all people are equal to their own ability accordingly. In Harrison Bergeron the people were equal accordingly to their own specific handicapping. In communistic societies there were no more social classes and all your rights were given up to the government and so you were told what to do. In Harrison Bergeron they were controlled by the government and so they could not have their own right to think or have an upper advantage than anybody else. Therefore Harrison Bergeron was a communistic society due to the fact people were equal accordingly to their own handicap, they could not escape the government considering they were handicapped, and then if you did not obey with the government then you would be in quite the pickle.

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

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.

The society in “Harrison Bergeron” is similar to the society in Anthem in the sense that they both look down on people that are superior to others. “Harrison Bergeron” presents the United States in the year 2081, where everybody is equal under the rule of the United States Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. In this futuristic version of the United States, people are given handicaps when they are above average either mentally or physically, resulting in a significant drop of the average intelligence level of their community as compared to today’s standards. Harrison Bergeron, a smart, handsome, and athletic fourteen year old boy that lives in this society, is required to wear headphones that made loud sounds, glasses with thick wavy lenses, and three hundred pounds of scrap metal to limit his abilities. But even with all of these hindrances, he is still considered too gifted and therefore dangerous to society. In this short story, Vonnegut creates the idea that trying to make everyone equal is not something that we should strive for as it can lead to major

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron” tells the story of an unbelievably talented young man that defies the constraints of total equality in futuristic America, year 2081. Because of the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments, all citizens are subjected to a communist like state where everyone is made to be equal in beauty, physique, and intelligence. Throughout “Harrison Bergeron,” symbols such as Harrison’s defiance of the law, his physical attributes, and the setting presents the theme of the story as the idea that total equality would be disastrous.

In “Harrison Bergeron,” it becomes clear very soon that the society depicted in the story does not favor exceptional human qualities of any kind, be they related to intelligence, physical ability, or outward appearance. For instance, as the Bergeron family watches a ballet dance recital, the manner in which they determine which dancer is the best-looking is by the “hideousness” of the mask that the dancer is forced to wear. As the excerpt reads: “’Ladies and Gentlemen,” said the ballerina, reading the bulletin. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by the two hundred pound men” (Vonnegut n/a). When examining this passage through a Marxist theoretical lens, it becomes clear that Vonnegut is

Vonnegut's story “Harrison Bergeron” discusses the theme equality of results, but through his satirical circumstances there is an ambiguous theme targeting Socialism and Capitalism that shines through.

Harrison Bergeron was a satire of the policy of equality of outcome, a belief system that favors equality over equity, and McCarthyism. The story begins with the words, “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” (Vonnegut, 1). The protagonist Harrison Bergeron is initially a victim of the laws implemented in this society, since he is depicted as an extremely handsome teenage genius. As a countermeasure to enforce equality, he was taken away from his parents and sent to prison. Harrison’s parents, George and Hazel, are watching ballerinas on TV when it is revealed that Harrison has escaped from prison. They show a picture of Harrison; he is forced to wear huge earphones as a mental handicap, a grotesque mask to cover up his face, and is covered in 300 pounds of metal He then bursts into a TV studio, rips off all of his handicaps, and declares himself emperor. He then says that the first woman to stand up will be his empress. After a ballerina stands up, Harrison takes off all of her handicaps and reveals a beautiful woman. Then, the pair began to dance, and in an act of defiance, “they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each

“Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. “Harrison Bergeron is a dystopian world where people are punished for being smarter than anybody else, better looking, or stronger. The government made sure everybody was equal in every way. Harrison died trying to achieve his goal he wanted to do the most.

The story “Harrison Bergeron” is about a future when everyone is equal. Everyone has equal strength, beauty, and intelligence which is achieved by wearing handicaps. Harrison Bergeron is very smart, beautiful, and strong. He escapes prison where he was for scheming against the government. Then takes off his handicaps and dances with a ballerina on television.

Everybody’s good at something, but nobody's good at everything. Harrison Bergeron plays an important role in this story, mostly because of when he takes of his handicaps in front of a large audience airing live on t.v. He claims himself as emperor and invites a ballerina to be his empress. The ballerina takes off her mask and they dance away until they both get shot because they disobeyed the law. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before god and the law. They were equal every which way.” In this story everyone was equal to one another, and if you didn’t remain the same as everyone else you. Which is what happened to Harrison and the ballerina when they took off their handicaps and began to dance. “She must’ve been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was

Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" emphasizes the balance between equality and individuality by using ethical issues inherent within the struggle for utopia and its origins. Truly, the passage shows repression and brutal punishment as representing the balance between equality and individuality. In the story, the Handicapper General enforces the equality of the society by creating handicaps such as weights for strong people, masks for the beautiful, and ear microphones to disrupt the thinking of the smart. The equality in the society in "Harrison Bergeron", however, means people cannot be themselves and contribute to their society by using their talents. Vonnegut makes the idea of equality is not always worth the cost of individuality clear to the reader when a news reader slips up.

The world is an unfair place, and while this may seem wrong, changing it would only create more disorder. In the story “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut introduces the readers to a world where everyone is “equal.” This definition of equality is based on the notion that all competition is evil and corrupt, and that no one should feel inferior in light of others success or talent. Controlled by the Handicapper General, the extreme measures used to equalize society has limited innovation and made commodities like food, entertainment, and relaxation of substandard quality. This fictional government has forced people to live in a way that suppresses their natural abilities, and it convinced many characters that this is the way society should be. The mass acceptance of such an existence by those characters demonstrates a critique of American conformity and the power of the government over this behavior.