Comparative Essay: Harrison Bergeron and The Giver

In certain societies people have different methods of equality ranging from putting weights on people to make them weaker, to just color blindness so all people are equal in spirit.  “Harrison Bergeron'' by Kurt Vonnegut and The Giver by Lois Lowry are clearly different texts because they have drastically different ways to achieve equality between all people. 

The Giver and Harrison Bergeron are different because of the ways that they achieve equality. 

Harrison Burgeron and The Giver are vastly different texts and should not be compared on the same level. Harrison Bergeron and The Giver are different because of many different reasons. One of the most important ways that you can tell that the two texts are different is because of the way that the society of Harrison Bergeron achieved equality which is “ which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. … had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times…  Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains." (Vonnegut 1). This shows . . .that the two societies have vastly different ways of reaching equality, as Harrison Bergeron's community achieved absolute equality through handicaps and mental disruptors because they believe that this is the best way to achieve perfect equality. This is because Harrison Bergeron’s society has a different view on equality than The Giver and this is why the ways that they make equality are so different from each other. They believe that people must be equal in all parts of life, which is flawed because it is still not truly equal as people must wear handicaps while other people don't have to wear these handicaps. 

The Giver has a different way of achieving equality than Harrison Bergeron's community. 

The way that the Harrison Bergeron Community is very different from The Giver where equality is not achieved through handicaps rather it was achieved through making all people colorblind which was shown after Jonas received a memory and had this discussion with The Giver “No, flesh isn't red. But it has red tones in it… That was before we went to sameness. Today flesh is all the same, and what you was red tones" (Lowrey 94). This shows . . .that the leaders of The Giver’s community are more interested in keeping everybody equal in mind and spirit rather than having everybody be exactly equal in all factors of life, such as strengths and intelligence. This is because the chief elders have more interest in keeping all of their citizens happy which is why they try not to burden them with heavy handicaps rather they only need them to be equal with color and beliefs. I believe that they do this in order to keep the peace because they do not have the power to quell an uprising of the citizens, unlike the Harrison Bergeron community which has the power to quell an uprising. The works of both Louis Lowry and Kurt Vonnegut are vastly different and should not be compared to each other on equal terms. There are many different reasons why the works are vastly different.

“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and The Giver by Lois Lowry are clearly separate texts because they have unique ways to achieve equality between all people. The two societies' ways of equality are different, as in The Giver by Lois Lowrey people are made equal only in mind by making everybody colorblind, while in Harrison Bergeron people are equal in every aspect of life, including strength and intelligence. Societies function in many different ways. In Lois Lowrey’s The Giver society is equal to a certain extent, without restricting the rights of the citizens, while in Harrison Bergeron society is more restricted with the handicaps and not all people are equal as some must wear handicaps while others might not. This is not true equality among different citizens because some are more restricted than others.