Equality… Doesn’t That Mean the Same Thing for Everyone?

Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., is a short story about a future society whose people’s natural abilities and advantages are suppressed in order to eliminate the “menace” of competition. In the story, a couple’s extremely talented son rebels against the government by refusing to suppress his abilities and is subsequently killed; his parents watch the event unfold on television and immediately forget what they have just seen. In contrast, Battle Royal, by Ralph Ellison, is a short story set in the mid 20th century in the South amidst awful racial prejudice. Narrated by an African-American, the story details a humiliating boxing match that ten black men—including the narrator— are forced to fight in front of a group of white men. Afterwards, in a cruel juxtaposition, the narrator must cruelly give his well-prepared speech about continuing the peaceful unifying strategies of Booker T. Washington. In my opinion these two stories—despite having vast discrepancies in plot and setting— put forward two polar opinions on the same theme: equality.
In Harrison Bergeron, equality is presented towards the reader as an extreme; the government’s complete control over competition and natural ability makes no one very good at anything. For example, while Hazel (Harrison’s mother) has “a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts”(¶ 3) while George ( Harrison’s father), who is intelligent, is forced to wear a little radio in his ear to disrupt his thoughts every twenty seconds. Throughout the story, the narrator also inserts little comments about the society: “And she had to apologize at once for her voice, which was a very unfair voice to use. Her voice was a warm, luminous, timeless melody… and she began again, making her voice absolutely uncompetitive” (41). Because Vonnegut also mentions the “warm, timeless melody”, the reader can see what Vonnegut is really trying to say what he thinks about such a society. Because of the time period of this piece, I’m led to believe that this statement about total equality goes further than simply a sardonic comment on the benefits of natural selection. Rather, it is also a pointed remark on the failures of the communist systems and their respective countries. Through a dark, foreboding mood and occasional sarcastic comments on the nature of such a society, Vonnegut uses reverse psychology to underline the important of both equality and competition in American society.
As opposed to Harrison Bergeron, Battle Royal looks at equality from the other side of the “equality spectrum”: those who have none at all. In the story, a young black man is excited to recite his well-rehearsed speech on the importance of humility in order to obtain respect from the white man. Before he gives it, however, he is forced to degrade himself—along with 9 other young black men— in a pseudo-gladiatorial contest for ten dollars. As he spits out his own blood, dazed and tired from the fight, he begins to recite his speech. When he uses the phrase “social equality”, however, the crowd reacts derisively: “ The laughter hung smokelike in the sudden stillness. I opened my eyes, puzzled. Sounds of displeasure filled the room…They shouted hostile phrases at me. But I did not understand” (83). As the audience stops laughing, the narrator corrects himself and states that he meant to say “social responsibility”. In response, a small man in the front row states: “Well, you had better speak more slowly so we can understand. We mean to do right by you, but you’ve got to know your place at all times” (91). By putting the narrator through such abhorrent situations such as the fight and the ridicule of his speech, Ellison portrays the awful racial inequality present at this time.
While Vonnegut mocks an overabundance of equality and Ellison honestly portrays racial inequalities, both make equally significant points about equality. One, that equality is relative and, although a blessing in many respects should be kept within man’s own limits; the other, that equality is not true for all groups of people in the United States. After reading them in conjunction, the disgusting lack of equality in one story highlights the overabundance of it in the other. (711)

The Misfit

Character Analysis: The Misfit

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor, is a shocking story about the sudden death of a peaceful family on vacation. In the story, the grandmother convinces the rest of the family (which is made up of her son, daughter-in-law, and three children) to visit an old plantation she recalled from her childhood. However, after the family crashes its car, it encounters a character known as the Misfit, the only character in the story with any real depth.
When we first meet the Misfit, he exudes intelligence and the sagacity that comes with age: “He was an older man… His hair was just beginning to gray and he wore silver-rimmed spectacles that gave him a scholarly look.”(¶73) However, we quickly realize who he really is as the grandmother identifies him as The Misfit, a criminal mentioned earlier in the story as having escaped. An awful aspect of the story’s most important dialogue is the fact that it is all delivered while the grandmother’s family is being killed in the forest while she talks with The Misfit. The reader must keep that in mind while The Misfit talks about his former innocence: “I never was a bad boy that I remember of… but somewheres [sic] along the line I done something wrong and got sent to the penitentiary. I was buried alive.”(111) While the reader wants to believe that he is a good man—not nearly as much as the grandmother does—we cannot help but feel disgusted by his actions, no matter his past troubles in life. As family member after family member perishes, only the Misfit and the grandmother are left talking. As she talks with him, his composure begins to crack: he admits that if he had had more faith in Jesus, “I wouldn’t be like I am now.”(137) As his voice begins to tremble and break down, however, the grandmother crosses the line— she reaches over and touches him. Instinctively he shoots her three times in the chest, eliminating any idea the reader might have had that this story had a happy ending.
The entire plot is based off of the following question: “Is The Misfit a good man?” The reader spends the entire story believing that this tense dialogue will not be wasted and that in the end The Misfit will let the grandmother live. As soon as he kills her, the story loses its purpose: the question has been answered. Even though The Misfit may be the deepest-explored character of the story, he is most definitely not a good man.(432)

Symbols in "Revelation"

“Revelation”, by Flannery O’Connor, tells the story of a woman’s enlightening experience in a doctor’s waiting room. At first glance, it’s a rather awkwardly-constructed story, with almost no rising action but a climax that comes from out of the blue. The characters—
especially the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin—are not very likeable, and the writing is far from an elevated style. It is only when the reader steps back and looks at the symbolism in “Revelation” that one can appreciate its importance.
Even the title of the short story is evocative, bringing to mind the biblical Book of Revelations, which addresses Judgement Day and the fate of sinners. In my opinion, the waiting room symbolizes Purgatory, where souls wait before entering Heaven. In O’Connor’s words, the waiting room (Purgatory) “was very small, was almost full when the Turpins entered… [Mrs. Turpin was] a living demonstration that the room was inadequate and ridiculous” (¶ 1). O’Connor is decrying the lack of space available for those who deserve to enter Heaven. As for those waiting in the room, there is nothing saintly about any of them. The second most important character—after Mrs. Turpin—is Mary Grace, a “fat girl of eighteen or nineteen… [and a face that] was blue with acne” (19). Her name represents her most important role in the story: the “saving grace” of Mrs. Turpin. When Mary Grace throws the book entitled (ironically) Human Development at Mrs. Turpin, Mrs. Turpin waits for an explanation “holding her breath, waiting, as for a revelation”(112). To this expectant query, Mary mutters “Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog”(113). To the reader, this is the moment where Mary’s purpose is revealed: to show Mrs. Turpin that she does not belong in the same room as Mary (Purgatory) because of her wicked thoughts and sayings. To Mrs. Turpin, this is the moment that becomes her “revelation”: she begins to question if she is in fact a good person— something she had never really asked herself before— and whether or not she belongs in heaven.
The question of Mrs. Turpin’s fate is never fully answered in the novel. For example, her perceived goodness by her slaves stands in marked contrast to her own thoughts: “[Mrs. Turpin’s slave] said it as if they all knew Mrs. Turpin was protected in some special way by Divine Providence” (148). As she begins to question her soul’s fate aloud at the end of the story, the reader is left hanging as to whether or not Mrs. Turpin changes her ways, making it forever unknown whether or not the “revelation” worked.(440)

Everyday Life

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” relates the story of an accomplished, young African-American woman named Dee returning to her humble roots. The story, told by Dee’s mother (known simply as “Mama”) provides little room for sympathy for Dee, with an emphasis on the plight of Mama and Dee’s disfigured sister, Maggie. Only when one reads some of Walker’s biographical information can one determine the reason for this slanted perspective and truly understand the sentiment behind this short story. In my opinion, this story says more about Walker’s feelings towards her own choices in life than about anything else.
Alice Walker was born into a poor family, daughter of a sharecropper and a maid. As a child, she was struck in the eye by a pellet, blinding her permanently. When she grew older, Walker attended college, eventually marrying a lawyer and becoming a poet. In the story, there are many parallels between Walker’s life and several of the characters’ situations. For example, Maggie, much like Walker herself, was disabled by no fault of her own. Walker describes Maggie with the empathetic knowledge of somebody who has felt the same pain:
“Have you ever seen a lame animal …sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground”(¶ 9)
In the story, however, there is also a sinister insinuation that Dee herself started the fire because of her own hate for the house. Perhaps Walker is letting out some of the anger she feels toward the brother who shot her with the pellet gun? We will never know.
The most interesting facet of Walker’s story, however, is the representation of Dee. Dee is the accomplished college graduate who returns home, carrying pretensions of her own culture and what it means to her. For example, Dee has changed her name to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” and wants to have some of her grandmother’s old quilts for mere decoration. Dee is also portrayed as an outsider, as being not part of the “real” family. The reader can see this aloofness in Dee’s dialogue: “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (81). Dee’s “cultural awareness” is another source of curiosity. Her comment that Maggie would “put the quilts to everyday use” (66) makes us laugh at her supposed intellectual superiority. This blatant mockery makes me appreciate Walker’s self-deprecating humor; she is poking fun at herself 30 years ago, full of arrogance and disdain.
To me, the narration by Mama plays a very significant role in the story as a part of Walker’s life. It is almost as if Walker is trying to imagine her mother’s own reaction to Walker’s return home after making something of herself. Through Mama’s eyes, we see flaws in Dee such as her superficiality, selfishness, and feeling of self-superiority. Talk about some awful alliteration. Because of Mama’s perspective, the reader is offered a rather biased viewpoint on Maggie and Dee; invariably, the reader sides with Maggie. In my opinion, this prejudice reflects Walker’s own regret at leaving behind her family and friends and the guilty belief that her mother felt betrayed by her success. In order to highlight this alienation from the family, Mama even refers to Dee by her “new” name: “I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap”(76).
In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker paints a literal portrait of her own life, shrouded in character names and descriptions. While Maggie represents her simple, scarred childhood, Dee represents her evolution into a social creature, someone who has “made something of themselves”. At the same time, the reader realizes something else: that Walker is not totally content with her change, with her becoming the “Dee” in her own life. Part of her wants to become Maggie again: simple, innocent, and truly loved by her mother. (707)