- Please respond with your reaction to the story in no fewer than 5 sentences. What is Vonnegut trying to accomplish with this story? What specific parts of the story were shocking, confusing, funny, serious, or even scary? Be as specific as possible. Think of possible themes for this story. Due before class on Monday(9/13)
Friday, September 10, 2010
"Harrison Bergeron" Blog
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This was a very interesting story. I found it confusing in many parts like why they wore all this metal and weights also why they could touch the ceiling. I found it also to be kinda weird and that would be terrible if thats how it is gonna be in 2081. The theme of this story could possibly be how we have to be careful or else we might end up like these sad people.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a very strange but interesting story. I found it very confusing and shocking in some parts. For example, I found it shocking when the parents of Harrison just saw that their son was shot and killed, they were able to just put the sad thoughts out of their minds. Even though the father had a thing in his head to erase his thoughts. I was confused on why they wore all of those weights and metal things on their body to make everyone equal to each other. I think the theme of this story could be equality and how some people will apparently go to extreme measures to get it.
ReplyDeleteH.N.
I really liked this story and thought it was an interesting way to think about the measures people take to be equal. I think Vonnegut is trying to say that being equal in everything we do is NOT ideal. Some people have a better talent for arts or sports than others, but that doesn't mean we should make it where everyone can do everything equally. The very end of the story was so sad to me. The fact that George and Hazel couldn't remember what had just happened to their son was horrible! I think this story is a great example of what should not happen in the year 2081.
ReplyDeleteKB
This was a weird but interesting story. I found it confusing of why they had to where metal and masks on there body to cover their identity. I also found it weird that when they kissed they touched the ceiling. I think this is a story of what may happen in 2081 or the future years.
ReplyDeleteVonnegut is depicting the extreme of what he thinks the future will be like in a sense of everyone being equal in every single way and the government being in control of everything. I was shocked at the end when the Handicapper General came into the television studio and shot Harrison and the ballerina. Hazel started to cry, but when George asked her what the matter was, she says she forgot. Her son just got killed and she has already completely forgotten about it. I thought it was very serious when the ballerina started to freak out on the stage because she had a bad thought.
ReplyDeleteThis was fascinating while also strange and hard to understand in parts. It is like a prediction of life in 2081 and I believe it would be terrible to live like that. Although everyone being equal can be good, it also is bad because they had to wear all the metal and 200 pound bags around everyday. The theme of the story is equality and how it might change/increase over the years.
ReplyDeleteThis is by far one of the weirdest stories that i have ever read, but it was also very interesting. I think that Vonnegut was trying to show how far people are willing to go for equality. I think that it was kind of scary when the guy came in and trashed the place, and then shocking when he started to dance. And I thought it was sad when Hazel and Greg didn't even remember their son and they had just seen him on TV. I was confused by the ending. It was random and weird. I think this story is like a bazaar dream. A theme might be equality.
ReplyDeletei thought it was a good story but it was really random. i liked how they would make every one equal but it was a little extreme. i noticed that if every one was equal then they would all be dead and crazy and their would be no rules or anything. i also liked how harrison tried to stand up and become in charge and make things right. but i still don't get-how sounds would mess up peoples train of thought completely. i noticed that when people are told the law they usually don't question it in the story. and when they do they are put in jail or fined. i saw that Vonneguts view of the future stinks.
ReplyDeleteRSL
This was a very interesting story, while also strange. Vonnnegut is depicting the extreme of what he thinks it's going to be like in the future in a way of everybody being equal in every single way and it'll be the government in control of everything. Although everyone being equal it can be good, it also is bad because they had to wear all metal and 200 pound bags everyday. The theme of this story is about the future and how it might change over years.
ReplyDeleteD.D
This was an extremely strange and rather interesting story. I feel as if Vonnegut is trying to show the harsh future he believes is going to occur. The weights and masks make everyone equal but also hurt their society as ones identity is what makes the world a better or worse place. The theme is the harsh idea of a future that could occur if things go wrong. This story is just confusing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found this story very confusing and strange. By the end of the story, I never really understood what was happening. I could tell the parents had problems, but what kind of problems? If the world ever came to no one arguing or competing against each other then we would be very boring. When Harrison went on TV, I was very confused because I had no idea what was going on. I wasn't sure if it was real, or if the parents were just dreaming it. This story was very out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteAB
The story is very confusing and odd. I have no idea why things are like they are or why they are trying to make everybody equal. I feel as if Vonnegut was trying to show what may happen in the future and how terrible it would be. Although everybody being equal has some advantages, the disadvantages are much more severe. For instance, why would one want to have loud noises played in their ear every ten minutes just so they can can be equal to others? Others that are beautiful have to wear masks so they are not prettier than someone else. Everyone being equal can help with people's self-esteem and self-confidence. It has both positive and negative affects, but it would be very weird if that is what happened in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis story was very random and confusing. The goal of life was to make everyone equal and the same, when really we are all meant to be different. I thought the main "wierd" part of the story was their "handy caps" and how they treated them. Harrison's handy cap caused him to wear "little ear radio, tremendous pair of earphones, and Spectacles with think wavy lenses." I think that the community that this took place in was going for a way for us to all operate the same, act the same, and this would make everyone happy, but really it is putting people in a lot of pain and then there would be nothing to strive to be in life cause you are not allowed to change or be your own person.
ReplyDeleteThe story was fairly confusing. I could understand the exposition of the story, but overall, it was hard to understand what was going on in the story. Why would people want to be exactly the same as everyone else? If we were all the same, life would be boring and nothing new would be accomplished. Nothing new would be accomplished because everyone would have the same amount of intelligence. Therefore nothing will be invented, discovered, improved, or created. There would be nothing to prove or disprove. In other words, life would be boring.
ReplyDeleteH.L
I thought that it was a strange but interesting story. I think that the author is trying to convey that while equality is not a bad thing, having zero differences is deffenitly not good. I think that the part where Harrison's parents saw him get murdured but they didn't even care. The theme of the story might be that some equality is good, but total equality is not.
ReplyDeleteI found the story to be fairly confusing, and yet at the same time, very intriguing. After reading the story several times, I was able to piece some of it together. The author is trying to tell the reader that nothing can be considered "the absolutely perfect world". Perfect implies that there are no mistakes or errors. If the world was considered perfect, nothing would be considered as a mistake/error, therefore there would be no such thing as being wrong/false, and with that being said, "perfection" would not exist. I found it shocking that those who were talented/ better than the others were somehow prevented from showing their true potential. For example, the most graceful and strongest ballerina was held down by large "handicap" bags, which made it seem to the audience that she was not as talented as she truly was. George's intelligence was above the intelligence of an average human being, therefore he had to wear a "handicap" radio in his hear, which made a sharp noise every 20 seconds, therefore causing him to lose concentration. This was supposedly used to "keep people [who are smart] from taking unfair advantages of ["normal" peoples' brains," but if everyone was exactly the same, then eventually there would be no new discoveries, which means that nothing new would be invented. In other words: life would be boring...
ReplyDeleteH.L.
I believe Vonnegut was was making this a example of what the world is turning into with everyone suing everyone and the government taking over all that we do. It is pretty sad to see what goes on in this book and to see how the government has completely taken over everything and people aren't even aloud to there own minds because there being erased every couple of minutes. I also found this book to be very weird this was kind of a extreme and unconventional way to tell what he thought the world was turning into. like I don't believe that the government is going to start to put weights on us just to make sure that we are even, or put a mind eraser on everyone. This seems to me to be a very hostile and scary future, and i hope that this not really what our world is turning into because if it is i see the world coming to a quick and horrible end.
ReplyDelete