Thematic Comparisons Both Harrison Bergeron And The Term Paper

PAGES
2
WORDS
704
Cite

Thematic Comparisons Both Harrison Bergeron and The Incredibles share glaring commonalities; Harrison is exceptional in every way, Mr. Incredible is the epitome of exceptional societal and family values. The underlying theme in both stories capitalizes on the 'red thread' running throughout society in waves; mediocrity is normal, even desirable and excellence and far-reaching goals are to be controlled and stilled.

Examples of this disturbingly accurate realism are plentiful in both stories; Harrison Bergeron breaks free of the 'United States Handicapper General's best effort to squelch all individuality, intelligence, and beauty found within the boy. Effortlessly breaking the handicap devices designed to weigh him down and keep him from soaring, Harrison publicly announces his intention of flying by naming himself the "Emperor," calling for a brave woman to rise, remove her handicap mask and be his "Empress" and calling for musicians with awe-inspiring talent to remove their own limitations and become barons, dukes, and earls in his newly formed kingdom. The Handicapper General -- HG -- enters, fires a double-barrel...

...

The musicians are given a scant 10 seconds to return their 'handicaps', or they, too, will die.
The Incredibles does a similar job of describing this envy and suppression of talent and dreams by depicting a hero -- Mr. Incredible -- as one who values the important things in life. Family, teamwork, honorable intentions, and the normal expectation of and reality of the receipt of love and appreciation from those for whom he extends himself sets the stage for the tragedies buried within the story. The people whom Mr. Incredible saves sue him for accidental injuries and as Mr. Incredible tries to help a suicidal man, he cries, "I wanted to save your life," to which the despondent man shouts back, "you ruined my death." Several characters are involved in demonstrating the driving need to bring the individual down to the lowest societal denominator; Mr. Incredible's boss, his enemies -- Bomb Voyage -, and even the falsely comforting world in which he lives.

Both of these stories bring to mind…

Cite this Document:

"Thematic Comparisons Both Harrison Bergeron And The" (2004, December 13) Retrieved April 19, 2024, from
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/thematic-comparisons-both-harrison-bergeron-60339

"Thematic Comparisons Both Harrison Bergeron And The" 13 December 2004. Web.19 April. 2024. <
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/thematic-comparisons-both-harrison-bergeron-60339>

"Thematic Comparisons Both Harrison Bergeron And The", 13 December 2004, Accessed.19 April. 2024,
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/thematic-comparisons-both-harrison-bergeron-60339

Related Documents

Uvin and McFaul make sound arguments using political comparison as the key to their studies. Uvin uses evidence of all aspect of political life in his three case study countries, such as elections, the population, and the role of the military. He then takes his case studies, compares them, and finds the pattern that links them all to each other. Once the pattern is identified, he illustrates how this pattern can be looked at in much

If there is a tendency among readers to view Malcolm X as a radical figure, especially where compared to peaceful counterparts like Dr. King, the autobiography helps to show racism in a light that makes Malcolm X extremely sympathetic, or at least a rational product of his time. Narratives from his upbringing, especially in his father's work as a black revolutionary and in his family's constant state of moving to escape threats, are especially demonstrative of

Education A Comparison of Online Learning and Campus-Based Learning The development and growth of online learning has created opportunities for both students and academic institutions alike. The online learning environment may be argued as offering many benefits such increasing accessibility to education and support of diversity as well as providing a potentially lucrative revenue streams for the institutions. These benefits have driven the growth, but the benefits are not without drawbacks, with

Paiget and Vygotsky Compare and Contrast Piagets and Vygotsky Understanding is assumed to be the process which is involved when it comes to mental activity and thinking, for instance memory, problem solving and attention. In this paper which is basically on the cognitive development it will explore things by comparing and contrasting the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, both of whom were very influential in coming up with a more scientific

PIAGET vs. VYGOTSKY Compared: Piaget and Vygotsky Piaget vs. Vygotsky: The role of language in cognitive development Jean Piaget's theory of human development is fundamentally a biological one: Piaget believed that all human beings go through a series of developmental stages, and the ability to understand certain concepts such as volume and mass is determined by the biological and developmental stage of the brain, more so than culture. If the child is not

Religious Ethics in Comparison Though the three religions reviewed and critiqued in this paper -- Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam -- have very different histories and quite original approaches to ethics, there are also a number of startling similarities when comparing them. One can easily find the differences, and this paper does indeed point to the differences. And yet, when it comes to the philosophical ingredients that go into each of the