Research Paper on:
Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron and Equality

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
like to believe that we are equal and that we should be treated equal. Yet, at the same time we all know we are different and cannot necessarily be treated  the same. And, even if we could all be treated the same it is likely that we would not be happy with the results. That is essentially the point in  Kurt Vonneguts short story "Harrison Bergeron" where all people are equal to a very devastating point. In the following paper we examine this story and comment on what might be  a better balance in achieving equality among mankind. Harrison Bergeron In this particular story we are obviously presented with what appears to be a society in which all  people are made equal. Through assigned handicaps and through the shielding of beautiful faces and voices we are provided with people who are forced into a position of equality. They  even provide handicaps for those who think beyond the obvious. All of this spells a society that is supposed to be equal but truly is not. One individual asks the  following question in regards to this story and its presumed equality: "Might the reliance in the story on the government to enforce equality point to such an irresolvable tension?" (Anonymous  Kurt Vonnegut "Harrison Bergeron" Study Questions vonnegut.htm). The answer to this question would be yes because, when we imagine that everyone is equal in terms of beauty or skills or  intelligence we are envisioning a reality that cannot be. There is a clearly irresolvable tension wherein people cannot be the same. From this perspective of equality we note that such  an approach is impossible. People cannot be exactly the same. This, however, does not mean that equality needs to only mean that all people have equal qualities and attributes. In