Harrison Bergeron Essay, Research Paper

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ? s Too Equal Society

The society that the narrative “ Harrison Bergeron ” portrays, is one with no passion, no spirit, simply one with no individualism. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. does a great occupation in satirising the American political system. Stanley Schatt notices this in his life of Vonnegut, where he states that Vonnegut writes “ political fabrications that satirize the American political and this state? s relationship with both China and the Soviet Union ” ( 133 ) . The people of this society take the impression equality to a degree that could non even be executable in any individual? s imaginativeness. In an effort to do people equal, disabilities are distributed among people. These disabilities range from small mental disability wirelesss in more rational people & # 8217 ; s caputs to metal or other heavy foreign objects to decelerate the stronger people. With these disabilities the people are unable to make things that might be simple without the disability. This effort at equality that comes approximately, makes America a absolutism instead than a democracy. It besides lowers the quality of life in America along with the competition degree that America has with the remainder of the universe. Besides, there is no possible manner to do everyone equal in mundane life. Without individualism, there would non be any free minds and no dreams to carry through anything particular. Vonnegut uses sarcasm to mock the American political system.

The thought of the American political system being compared to that of the China? s and Soviet Union? s is intending how the system is much like that of a absolutism. This is true since there is a head individual, this individual being the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. Diana Glampers is the 1 to make up one’s mind what the criterion is for a individual to be handicapped in any manner. The lone thing though, is that she must hold at least a clear idea procedure with no breaks of painful, loud sounds in her caput. If this state is America, so how could she or the group that may be back uping her non hold disabilities besides? This idea contradicts the idea of democracy in America. Even the idea of how this person was able to come to be the “ Handicapper General ” in America, is presuming that there was some type of return over or use of the people in America. Equality of everyone with disabilities with a few without disabilities is more of a absolutism than a democracy.

In “ Harrison Bergeron ” the political system has taken the “ Declaration of Independence ” and attempted to entwine it with the Constitution. This nevertheless is non possible, since the “ Declaration of Independence ” was written in fring the new Americans of the clasp that the English had on them. The Constitution was written to hold Torahs and order in the state. The “ Declaration of Independence ” speaks of “ All work forces are created equal & # 8230 ; ” , this is stating that in the eyes of the jurisprudence everyone is created equal. The people in this society have taken it to the extreme, holding it average that everyone is equal in all facets of life to attach to equality in the jurisprudence. The Constitution started with amendments that gave every citizen certain rights that could non be taken from him or her. This society took those amendments and added to them to do everyone equal in all countries of life. This society shows that Hagiographas of a state that were written at different times in history for different intents are non meant to be intertwined.

The people have to be applauded for seeking this difficult to do everyone equal in every facet in life, but they really failed at making it. Even with two hundred and 13 amendments to the Constitution, they failed. The people forgot a few things that make people really different and non equal. They forgot colour, sex, and who is traveling to do certain things get taken attention of to their list of things to do people equal. Color has been proven since the earliest of times to do person seem unequal. Slaves, for illustration, were chiefly black people. Since the slaves were black, when bondage was abolished the freed black people had a really long, unsmooth clip before they started acquiring the least spot of regard. The sex of a individual

still today may consequence how that individual is thought about and treated. Womans were ever expected to sit at place, cook, clean, and raise the kids, while work forces were thought to make the more physical work around the house and back up the household by gaining a life. Womans are merely now doing into the work topographic point and some adult females now are even running major companies and corporations. Womans are even viing on the professional degree in athleticss now, a effort that no 1 would hold of all time thought would go on. To add to the point that times have changed, work forces are raising childs, cleaning house, and cookery in today? s universe. In every state, regulations are required in order to keep order. With these disabilities to do everyone equal, it would be impossible for person with a mental disability to keep order in the state. Person or a group of people would be required to be smart but non hold a mental disability so they could do of import determinations. Then there has to be a group of people to implement the jurisprudence of the disabilities and the other Torahs that are really in today? s society. These people would non be able to hold either mental or physical disabilities. Even when the people have handicaps on them, that allows the disableds to be marked. By being marked, that is that other people are able to state if a individual is smarter than the norm, stronger than the mean, or better looking than the norm. Vonnegut gives an illustration of how people are marked in this type of society when he writes “ And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the terpsichorean, for her disability bags were every bit large as those worn by two hundred-pound work forces ” ( 1334 ) . There is merely no manner to do everyone equal in all facets of life.

Where would we be today if we did non hold a thought procedure for more than a few proceedingss? Where would we be if we forgot something like what we were stating right before the break every individual clip we were interrupted? We would non hold made it to the Moon, likely would non hold even tried to acquire to the Moon. Without a complete idea procedure at that place would non be anybody to halting people from perpetrating offenses. With the physical disability at that place would non be any competition between people in athletic events. Peoples would non seek to acquire into form, which likely would take to an early decease for many persons. The lone exercising that people would acquire is if they did hold the disability on their strength. This would be due to the fact that after clip they would simply acquire used to the excess weight on them. After they were used to the excess weight on them, the Handicapper General would hold to order more weight added to them. In the terminal without competition between persons life as we know it would worsen and people would non populate every bit long as they do today.

Vonnegut makes a great point of where our society is traveling if people do non merely recognize that there are prejudices in the universe. All that the people in the universe can make now is merely seek harder to acquire in front. Peoples will hold to do it where the race for a occupation is non as near so there is no opportunity of a bias sentiment coming into drama of who gets the occupation or wins the occupation. The film PCU portrays a college campus that depicts how this society most likely came approximately. In the film, people argue over every small thing from race to the Earth to partying. The pupils had to come up with ways in order to make things without piquing so many different groups of people. The people in America are traveling to hold to understand that they are stuck on this planet with all sorts of people and there is nil they can make about it except unrecorded with it. When people will get down to understand the many differences between everybody so the United States and the universe will be a better topographic point. If a state or worse the universe became like this there would be no promotion, no exhilaration, candidly no point in life any longer. By satirising a state like this, Vonnegut shows us that this is non where we want to be.

Schatt, Stanley. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Boston: G.K. Hall & amp ; Co. , 1976.

Vonnegut Jr. , Kurt. “ Harrison Bergeron ” . The Short Story and Its Writers: An Intro to Short Fiction, Fifth Edition. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. St. martins, 1999. 1332-1335.