Haley Monsebroten

Miss Fordahl

English 10

November 22, 2013

Harrison Bergeron

Many people dream of equality. They dream of a place where everybody can be equal, no one is smarter, better looking, or more athletic than anybody else. But would a world of equality really be a good thing? In Kurt Vonnegut's “ Harrison Bergeron”, he expressed that an equal world might not always be a good thing.

In “Harrison Bergeron”, the people who are above average are handicapped either mentally or physically. The strong people have to carry around large bags filled with birdshot, the good looking people have to wear ugly masks, and the smart people have to radio transmitters in their ears so they can only think in short bursts. If we were to convert to a world of equality, instead of a perfect world of smart, good looking, athletic people we would have to go to the lowest level possible.

If it were truly an equal world, we would all have the same amount of power to make decisions. But that again would not work. There would have to be someone in charge making sure that nobody is surpassing anybody. In Kurt Vonnegut's interpretation, there is a group of people in charge that everybody is afraid of. In a world of equality, we should not have to be afraid of anyone because we are all supposed to be the same.

A world of equality would not be a very good thing. There would be no advances in technology or medicine because nobody would be smart enough to do it. It also isn’t up to anybody else to decide what kind of person you are going to be. Taking away your choices and rights goes against the law and is not ethical.

In conclusion, equality is not a good idea. There is honestly no way for everybody in a world to be equal. There is always going to have to be someone in charge making sure that everybody else is equal. Kurt Vonnegut’s interpretation makes it seem that everybody is scared into obeying these laws of equality. And what kind of world would we have if equality is based on fear?