“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives” (John Lennon). People love to do what’s expected of them from society because it is the easiest thing to do, when they should instead go against the expected and do something creative and unique to express themselves. Kurt Vonnegut did this when he wrote his short story, and he used the story to project the same idea. In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Berguron,” the author uses a satiric and symbolic writing style to show his readers that they should not conform to society’s standards as they do not approve of creativity and Vonnegut encourages us to show creativity in our lives.
The symbolism in this story shows its readers how society does not accept change and therefore disapproves…show more content… One satiric quote is presented near the beginning of the novel “Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains,” (Vonnegut Jr. 34). This is satire for society telling us what’s creative and what’s not. Society makes us believe that anything that will help it stay stable is creative when there is also the creativity that changes society. Another instance of satire is occurs while the Bergurons are watching the ballerinas, “They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their 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,” (Vonnegut Jr. 36). The ballerinas are not allowed to show their faces and therefore cannot be themselves, a satirical situation Vonnegut put in his story. Society tells us how to look, how to act, and how to think and that puts people into thinking that in order to be accepted into society, they cannot be themselves and not be creative. Vonnegut is telling his readers through satire to think for themselves and not let others dictate their
