Critiques of American Society in Science Fiction

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question
\"I am the Emperor!\" cried Harrison. \"Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!\" He stamped his foot and the studio shook. \"Even as I stand here—\" he bellowed, \"crippled, hobbled, sickened—I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become!\" What do Harrison's words and actions reveal about his character?
answer
He wants to rebel against the law and show off his superior gifts.
question
Based on \"Harrison Bergeron,\" which statement would Kurt Vonnegut most likely support?
answer
Achieving absolute and literal equality requires the suppression of individuality.
question
\"All of a sudden you look so tired,\" said Hazel. \"Why don't you stretch out on the sofa, so's you can rest your handicap bag on the pillows, honeybunch.\" She was referring to the forty-seven pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George's neck. \"Go on and rest the bag for a little while,\" she said. \"I don't care if you're not equal to me for a while.\" George weighed the bag with his hands. \"I don't mind it,\" he said. \"I don't notice it any more. It's just a part of me.\" This dialogue between George and Hazel portrays George as a
answer
static character because he has accepted society's rules and does not try to challenge them.
question
The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General. The author is describing a society that is
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uniform.
question
\"Ladies and gentlemen—\" said the ballerina, reading the bulletin. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred-pound men. What is ironic about this excerpt?
answer
The handicaps devised to conceal the ballerina's strength and beauty actually accentuate them.
question
In \"Harrison Bergeron,\" Vonnegut includes the character of Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, to
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represent the real dangers of an oppressive government.
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The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison stripped them of their handicaps, too. \"Play your best,\" he told them, \"and I'll make you barons and dukes and earls.\" The music began. It was normal at first—cheap, silly, false. But Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like batons as he sang the music as he wanted it played. He slammed them back into their chairs. How does Vonnegut use irony in this excerpt?
answer
NOT!! The musicians are described as the opposite of what is expected.
question
\"I think I'd make a good Handicapper General.\" \"Good as anybody else,\" said George. \"Who knows better'n I do what normal is?\" said Hazel. How does the dialogue develop Hazel's character?
answer
It depicts her as a flat character because she represents the stereotype of perfectly average intelligence.
question
Which condition is considered most dangerous by George and Hazel Bergeron in \"Harrison Bergeron\"?
answer
Competition
question
Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds. And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random. How does Harrison Bergeron's physical description help to create satire?
answer
The absurdity of Harrison's exaggerated handicaps ridicules society's obsession with equality.
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In \"Harrison Bergeron,\" why is Harrison Bergeron's character considered a danger to society?
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He is physically and intellectually superior to others and threatens their sense of equality.
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How do Hazel's comments help Vonnegut develop his critique of American society?
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NOT!! They emphasize the importance of having compassion for others.
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