Essay On Differences Between The Scarlet Ibis And Harrison...

How do the differences of people in a society affect its conflicts? In â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis,† by James Hurst, Doodle is a disabled adolescent boy who is considered â€Å"lower† than most of the people in his world. In â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† by Kurt Vonnegut, the government forces everyone to be of equal skill level and mental capacity by wearing handicaps or objects that will impair their positive traits. Doodle is a character with inferior qualities than the rest of his society, whereas Harrison is a character born with superior qualities than the rest of his society, and their differences affect the way that they address the conflicts within their society. Doodle from â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† is a young handicapped boy who is born with inferior†¦show more content†¦Unlike Doodle’s rejection of the traits he was born with, Harrison Bergeron is a teenage boy who enjoys and appreciates the characteristics he has. Harrison is portrayed as a character with superior qualities than most of the people in his society. Kurt Vonnegut describes Harrison with, Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen†¦ has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous,† (Vonnegut). This illustrates how Harrison Bergeron is a handsome boy who is smart, athletic and has many traits that are considered â€Å"higher† or â€Å"better† than the rest of people in his society. Harrison’s superior qualities result in the government trying to exacerbate his features by making him wear very heavy handicaps, large earphones, thick spectacles, a red rubber ball for a nose, and more. However, Harrison does not allow the government to hold him back. Vonnegut writes, â€Å"Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness†¦ smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall. He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder,† (Vonnegut). This quote demonstrates the way in which Harrison deals with the qualities he is born with in his society. Harrison discards the objects that hold him back and compel him to be â€Å"equal† to others. He wants to display the perfect qualities