Equality in Harrison Bergeron Essay

Kurt Vonneguts short story Harrison Bergeron is set in the future (2081), when the government has supposedly made all(prenominal)one touch. The multitude of this eon are forced equal by technology. These people are denied individuality, and the governments have taken their freedom by enforcing laws. Vonneguts story is a satire because the order he depicts is not truly equal, but rather a totalitarian regime under the pretense of equality. I will examine how Vonnegut seems to be implying that in such a society, the government gains too much control and people gradually lose their individuality.In Vonneguts story, everybody was finally equal. They werent only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way. So how does this differ from the equality we enjoy in our current society? Vonnegut goes on to explain that, in such a society, equality means that nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quick er than anybody else. But how would this be possible if every human being is born differently?The government forces citizens to wear different levels of handicap devices according to their differing abilities. For example, a handicap radio is forced on anyone considered smart, a mask is forced on anyone considered beautiful, and heavy bags full of birdshots are forced on anyone considered strong. All these rules are enforced by the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and the unceasing vigilance of agents of the united States Handicapper commonplace. However, this also implicates that equality is not actually achieved because the Handicapper General is evidently not restricted in the same manner. In fact, the Handicapper General, which seems to pretend the government, controls the life of citizens. People like George might possess intelligent thoughts such as maybe dancers shouldnt be handicapped. However, these thoughts might undermine the Handicapper General s power, so the handicap radio works every twenty seconds or so to keep people like George from taking unfair value of their brains. Georges son Harrison Bergeron, who according to the news channel is a genius and an athlete, is regarded as extremely dangerous. After Harrison escapes from jail under-handicapped, he is quickly tracked put down by authorities and shot by the Handicapper General herself. Vonnegut seems to imply that ironically, power are in the hands of only a few people under the pretense of equality, and that extraordinary people has no place to live in such an authoritarian society. Controlled by the government, citizens also lose their individuality. Masks are worn-out so beauty is hidden.When George and Hazel were watching ballerinas on the television, the ballerinas faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in. Moreover, people who are strong have to wear weights on their b odies. George had a forty-seven pounds of birdshot in a weather sheet bag, which was padlocked around his neck, which even Hazel finds pitying. Even phonations are controlled. Reading a bulletin, a ballerina had to apologize at once for her voice because her actual voice was a warm, luminous, and timeless melody.Therefore, people in this society lose their individuality and humanity. Vonnegut seems to imply that the government intrudes the everyday lives of citizens under the pretense of equality, just like the communist totalitarian regime of Mao Ze Dong in China. Vonnegut seems to think that equality in the sense of eliminating individual differences would never work. If the government forced handicaps on adroit people, how could we improve our society? Creative thinkers wouldnt be able to come up with new ideas, technology development would stagnate and the quality of life would deteriorate. deem there werent anybody capable of inventing the mobile phone, how would contact yo ur friends and family on the road? In conclusion, Harrison Bergeron portrays how people can potentially lose their individuality and unwillingly coincide totalitarian control under the pretense of equality. Vonnegut wants to warn us about how dangerous such a society is and how the improper usage of equality is pitch-dark for the human race. We should never sacrifice individuality for equality