The literary element that stood out the most to me in our short stories was the theme of "Harrison Bergeron". Though the idea of the story and the ignorance of its characters just made me angry, I find that if I look past that, I generally agree with the theme the author weaves through this story. Though I know there was some debate about the true theme in class, my impression was that it could be summed up as this: There is no such thing as true equality, and we would lose so much if there were.
I guess this spoke to me because it rang true in my mind. Particularly in the United States, inequalities make our society great. Perhaps that sounds bad or evil or wrong, but before you jump to some conclusion or discount what I have to say, listen. If it weren't for inequalities, not legal ones or religious ones, but societal ones, the people who work extremely hard to climb higher up the totem pole through theirs lives, after being born or thrown into a lower class, would never be rewarded. The person who is born rich but lacks the work ethic and the gray matter to maintain his position would never fall below those hard workers. Especially if attempts at equality are made by enforcing government control, equality would never be reached. Those with power would maintain it high above everyone else, and as the "average intelligence" of the people became lower and lower the reign of those officials would grow more and more dictatorial. The idea of everybody having the same amount of everything completely defuncts the values of social mobility. Thus my American heart was troubled by the idea of "total equality."
Reading Log:
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: 10/11- 30min. pgs. 209-215
Revelation by Katie Klein: 10/10- 10min., 10/12- 10min., 10/14- 2hrs. 66%-100% (kindle...)
Total: 6 pgs and 44%, 2 hours 50min. (170min.)
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