The Dangers Of Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

The Dangers of Equality Equality has been strived for by politicians and government in the United States since the start of the Feminist movement, but is this equality may not be something that we should aim to obtain. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut shows his readers that trying to obtain total equality may lead people down a dangerous path. It may seem that equality would benefit everyone, but would it take too much away from people in order to reach this equality. Vonnegut uses the theme of the dangers of total equality to show his readers that striving for equality is not an ideal goal and may lead to total governmental control with unlimited unwanted results. Kurt Vonnegut uses his story, “Harrison Bergeron,” to satirize how the government and our politicians are taking the idea of uniformity to excessive extremes. The story “Harrison Bergeron” begins in the year two thousand and
In the story the citizens are tortured with heavy weights to weaken them if they are too strong, ugly masks to steal away their beauty, and mental handicaps that sent out a torturous noise that would muddle the mind if they are too intelligent. This tortuous method is shown when Harrison Bergeron is weighed down with three hundred pounds of scrap metal, has to wear earphones and distorted glasses to cloud his mind, and shave his eyebrows to obscure his beauty (220). Vonnegut uses this description in his story to assert his feelings that achieving equality may seem like a pertinent thing to do but not at the cost of all our freedoms and individual abilities. The characters in the story have no understanding of the society is controlling them which further takes away their freedoms. Competitive nature is not what is bringing down this society, but it is what keeps our society functioning and helps us to find new possibilities we never knew