"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

Subject  > Literature Research Papers  > North American

In "Harrison Bergeron" Kurt Vonnegut depicts a society in which everyone is mentally, physically, and socially equal. Throughout the history of our country, Americans have sought racial, gender, and socio-economic equality. On paper such a society seems ideal. Through the story one might infer that Vonnegut views the concept of total equality as ludicrous. Equality can be interpreted many ways. One point of view is the American belief that everybody should be treated equally and another view is the one represented in the story that everybody is equal. I completely agree with Mr. Vonnegut's view of the perfect society as being absurd.         Having everybody equal looks fantastic in planning ...

... not be replacing the old and obsolete products. The formation of these monopolies brings the nation one step closer to communism. When you look at it, the perfect society is what Russia was looking to achieve before they realized it could not work. The price of products will continually increase while the quality of the products continues to diminish without competition. This is not the only area where competition will disappear.         With the limitations imposed on the gifted athletes by the physical handicaps, sports too would disappear. The superb athletes would not be able to display their abilities because they were weighed down by sash-weights and

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