Dystopian Society In Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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Imagine living in the most undesirable society, a society where the government watches and controls everything you do, a society in which you have no individual voice. It is a society where anything you do against the government can be punished by isolation, torture, and death. There is no independence, no freedom, and no personal thought. This is a dystopian society. In Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut sarcastically portrays an “utopian” society which people are totally equal. Although it would be a perfect world where everyone is equal, it does not mean to hide man’s uniqueness, restrict man’s intelligence, and prohibit man’s freedom. Harrison Bergeron was published in 1961, and it was during the Cold War time. It can be interpreted …show more content…
However, in Vonnegut’s fictionally created world, there is no freedom. Harrison is another main character. Harrison is a strong, handsome, and talented man. He wants to be free and have the right to express his talent, while the government does everything in its power to squelch him to make his life harder. In spite of the government’s hindrances, Harrison has a strong will to live as a full human being. He takes off all his handicaps, and even removes his empress’s handicaps and dances with her freely. Yet they end up with tragic result. They are killed by the government official.( Vonnegut 6) The murder shows that those who are brave enough to show off their gifts will not be allowed to live.
On the other hand, freedom is not a right that men should abuse. In Vonnegut’s another work The Big Space Fuck, he depicts a opposite dystopian society which people have much freedom. It was a period when coarse language was pervasive, and no one would take offense. Even the president.(Vonnegut 773) What a striking contrast …show more content…
In “Harrison Bergeron,” Vonnegut suggests that total equality is not an ideal worth striving for, as many people believe, but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both execution and outcome. To achieve equality among all the Americans, the beautiful must wear hideous masks or disfigure themselves, the intelligent must listen to earsplitting noises that impede their ability to think, and the strong must wear weights around their necks at all hours of the day. Equality is a great idea that the world should extend and embrace; however, absolute equality will become an issue in which too much of a good thing may cause matters to go wrong. In a world of absolute equality, each human being would never be looked upon as anything more or less than the person beside him or her. Unfortunately, this advantage may only go so
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