Harrison Bergeron

Harrison bergeron is set in the year 2081. By this time, the governement has mandated that everyone is equal, very equal. Those who are good looking must wear masks, those who are smart must wear earpieces that don't allow them to use their brains, those who have good vision must wear glasses, those who are athletic must wear bags of weight around their neck. George and Hazel Bergeron have a son named harriso who is taken away from them by the handicapper general. While they are watching some ballerinas perform on television, a news bulletin begins stating that Harriso Bergeron has escaped from prison. He is wearing thick glasses and a red rubber nose. They warn people not to attempt to reason with him if they see him. He breaks onto the set of the ballerinas dancing and breaks free of all of his handicapps and begins dancing with one of the ballerinas. He removes her mask to reveal her stunning beauty. They dance and he proclaims himself emperor and the ballerina empress. They dance until Diana Moon Glampers, the handicapper general, catches Harrison and kills him. Hazel is sobbing at the sight of this, but George missed it because he went to get a beer from the kitchen. When he comes back, he asks Hazel what is wrong and she can't remember, something sad. So he tells her to forget sad things.

Is this story "1984" set in 2081 instead? I think so. These are both stories about the future. While this story focuses on the equality of everyone on the planet, 1984 focuses on the technology and how it seperates society. In 1984, the characters can't hide. They have to do things according to what the "Thought police" deem appropriate. In HB, if the characters don't comply with what the handicapper general says, they get killed. Reading these stories makes me wonder what is going to come of our world. Will it even have a future. According to the Mayans, it won't. In December 2012, the world is going to end (so they say). So modern day people won't have to worry about this type of unfair future. We have different types of people today because they are good at different things. Everyone doesn't need to be the same amount of pretty or the same level of smart. That is just ridiculous. Everyone has strenghts. For the government to rob people of that is insane. Let people be individuals.