![]() ![]() Through a dystopian theme, Kurt Vonnegut argues that equality is an ideal which harshly dehumanizes and destroys people’s individualities. Harrison understood that the equality that had been granted was all a mere illusion, so he refused to cooperate with the laws implemented by the government. ![]() In a world where beauty, brains, and strength were deemed an abomination, Harrison Bergeron, who was the protagonist of the story and possessed all such qualities, was subjected to an intense ordeal of unfair treatment as his capacities and abilities were far above anybody’s. ![]() The forms of handicaps included ugly masks for the overly attractive, weights for the remarkably strong, and mental devices for the exceptionally smart. Citizens who possessed qualities that made them different or not average were obligated by law to wear handicaps to terminate the aspects which differentiated them from the rest of society, thus working to make them equal to everybody else. People were equal not only before God and law, but “they were equal in every which way”. ![]() In this new era, no one was authorized to be smarter, better looking, or even stronger. depicts a futuristic United States, set in the year 2081 where people are granted equality in the literal sense. For centuries, humankind has worked towards an equal society, but at what expense and limit? In the short story,” Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Ancient German philosopher, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg once said, “Equality which we demand is the most tolerant degree of inequality”. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |