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Carlos Esparza
Mr.Choi
English 9A
03 November 2016

Can We Ever Reach Equalty?

Can we ever reach equality? A question brought up in a dystopian world created by Kurt
Vonnegut where the main character Harrison Bergeron is taken away for taking off his
handicaps, which are made to reach equality, rebelling against his society and being a threat.
In this story their are certain symbols that signify items in today's society. They include a mask, a
handicap earpiece, and lots of censorship.
In the short story Harrison Bergeron only the beautiful people get masks. They are meant
to hide their beauty and are an attempt at equality. They also prevent the less attractive people to
feel bad or less of themselves. As seen in the short story the ballerinas, were burdened with [...]
and their faces and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or
a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.[Vonnegut 1] This mask represents
make-up, plastic surgery, or anything that modifies your look to feel accepted. People often
modify the way they look so they can feel accepted or fit in. As seen in the article The
Negative Effects of Barbie on Young Girls and the Long term Results people like Heidi
Montang have even taken extreme measures and mutilated their body to mimic the doll. As seen
here the media gives people a false sense of perfection. They want to fit in and be accepted so
they feel important or feel like they belong in society. This self perception given by the media
shows actually how bad technology is and while trying to help us it only makes us dumber.

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Another item seen in the short story Harrison Bergeron is the handicap earpiece. It is
basically like a bluetooth earpiece that goes off and gives a painfully loud noise. So painful that
you forget about what you were just thinking, that is its job and it does it pretty well. This
earpiece is also a reach for equality. An example of one of these people is George Bergeron,
Harrisons father, who has this handicap, and a few others. It is given to the people in the society
that have above average intelligence [...] like George from taking an unfair advantage of their
brains. [Vonnegut 1] I feel like this reflects on todays society and how people dont take
advantage of their brains and instead rely on their phones/technology. Perhaps a little too much.
As seen in the article Google Effect; Is technology making us dumber? They talk about old
times While those of us who grew up in a landline-only world may also remember friends'
home numbers from that era, we are unlikely to know their current mobiles, as our phones do the
job. This talks about how maybe the old days and ancient ways are better because we weren't
so lazy and had to figure things out by ourselves. But imagine where you cant get this
information. A place where none of this is allowed and technology is hidden and censored. North
Korea.
Another significant moment/ item is when the Bergerons television burns out. While
Harrison was dancing with the other ballerina who took her handicaps off the handicapper
general Diana Moon Glampers came into the studio with a double barreled ten-gauge shotgun .
She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.[Vonnegut
5] This represents modern day censorship, just like in North Korea. Its a place with lots of
censorship and it is forced in a tyrannical way. Just like in Harrison Bergerons society they will
even kill or harshly punish anyone who breaks the rules or exposes the government and its
censorship. If caught doing something like having communication with foreign places there are

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serious punishments. For example the article North Korea : On the net in world's most secretive
nation its states how people had to take extreme measures to connect to other places and risked
their lives. One Korean defector said he would fill up a washbasin with rice and put the lid of a
rice cooker over my head to make a phone call [...] his fear was certainly warranted.
Possession of illegal cellphones is a very major crime. As reflected in the quote people like this
man would sacrifice their life, like harrison did for a moment of freedom and see how it feels to
be unsuppressed. They are the un-conformist and know what they were doing was dangerous but
they wanted to see how freedom felt.
In conclusion I feel that this society and the ones following for decades later have flaws
like those in Harrison Bergeron. Because of the advancement of technology it is unlikely that
items/ symbols like masks, technology and censorship will grow extinct. Maybe they will evolve
into something greater. But at the end everything that seems great or even equal in reality is not.