Nancy
Shtarkman
Professor Weimer
While reading Vonnegut’s “Harrison
Bergeron”, I couldn't help but connect it to Brave New World. In the
latter novel, the citizens are meant to live in a utopian society. This is
greatly contrasted in the short story of “Harrison Bergeron”, where the citizens
live in a dystopia. The main characters, George and Hazel Bergeron, parents to
Harrison Bergeron, are forced to be extremely limited in their knowledge.
Whenever George attempts to think of something that strays from the
governments’ way of thinking, he gets loud noises in his ear, which interrupts
him from his train of thought. For example, when George starts to think about
his imprisoned son, loud noises arise in his ears that resemble pots and pans
clanking, which is abnormally loud and meant to stray him away from any feeling
or emotion.
There are
many similarities between “Harrison Bergeron” and Brave New World. In
the latter novel, a Utopian society is created in hopes of eliminating all
sorts of emotion and individuality, similar to “Harrison Bergeron”. In the
latter short story, George isn’t allowed to think of his son because every time
he does, an alarm goes off in his head to veer him away from the emotion of
love. He also isn’t allowed to question the idea of the law because as soon as
he thinks about the fact that the ballerinas shouldn’t be handicapped with
masks, another siren goes off in his head. He was also wondering about how
beautiful and graceful they might look if the masks were removed. However, as
soon as he did that, another siren went off. The point of this society was to
create equality amongst folk in all possible ways to eliminate desire and
jealousy. The ways in which these people are created equal is dystopian. The
citizens have to wear physical weights in order for everyone to be equal. These
physical weights are symbols of both physical and mental burdens these citizens
must face. These burdens is what makes this story dystopian. This was similar
to Brave New World. In this novel, it was okay for a multitude of people
to have orgies with each other where nobody could get jealous or upset. This
way, emotion and desire is eliminated because everyone is free to have sex with
whomever they want without feeling guilt or remorse for their actions or whomever
they might hurt in the process. However, these citizens are relieved of their
physical and mental burdens, which is what makes Brave New World
utopian.
Furthermore,
in Brave New World, the use of Soma, made these characters oblivious to
love and emotion. They couldn’t see what was wrong with society because they
were essentially all “high”. The “Handicaps” that the characters in “Harrison
Bergeron” wore could be paralleled with Soma. Handicaps can take different
forms. For example, an athlete might have many weights on his body so he won’t
be physically stronger than anyone else. This was seen with Harrison Bergeron.
A wise person may have headphones with loud noises whenever he thinks of ideas
that rival those of the governments’. This was seen with George Bergeron. The
handicaps were meant to do away with emotions and individuality, much like Soma
was intended to do. In Brave New World, Lenina drinks Soma after she
visits the Reservation and sees the horrible conditions the residents live in.
Soma is meant to steer her away from any emotion. In addition to being addicted
to Soma, the characters must drink this in society or else there are
repercussions. This is similar to the Handicaps in George’s ear. As soon as he
starts thinking about his son and the potential beauty hidden behind the masks
of the ballerinas, the noises released by his headphones veer his train of
thought away from these emotions. These handicaps can be removed but there will
be repercussions. This is similar to the drinking of Soma. The residents in
Brave New World must drink Soma.
Another
connection between “Harrison Bergeron” and Brave New World is between
the two main characters. Harrison attempts to change society when he breaks out
of prison. He interrupts a ballerina dance show by exclaiming to society that
he wants change. He proceeds to take off all of his handicaps and is soon shot
by the Handicap General. In Brave New World, John exclaims his distress
with the World State by saying that by eliminating all of these feelings,
humanity isn’t created but it is lost in the process. He couldn’t comply with
these rules and he kills himself. Both characters are distressed with society
and aren’t able to overcome it.
In this
short story, the characters are encumbered by heavy weights and masks in the
hopes of creating an equal society. This idea is paralleled to the idea of
censorship nowadays. In modern day China, regular citizens cannot freely go on
the Internet and search what they please. There are restrictions on the types
of Internet searches that can be conducted. Another parallel I saw with the
dressing of weights on the characters with the use of speed cameras in today's
society. Although this doesn't seem important, it potentially is. Safety
is the number one concern. However, these hidden speed cameras never used to be
prominent as they are in society now. Police officers used to be on patrol,
keeping watch, and giving tickets when they saw people speeding. Nowadays, this
human effort has transgressed into a computer effort. The speed cameras take a
picture of your car, license plate, speed, and then you receive a ticket in the
mail within two weeks. This can be paralleled to the ways in which the
government keeps track of what is being said and done by the citizens in
Harrison Bergeron.
“Harrison Bergeron” is a dystopian
novel because the citizens are always fighting internally with each other.
Brave New World is a utopian novel because the citizens are oblivious to
everything and as a result, they exemplify the motto, “ignorance is bliss”.
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