Harris Bergeron by the Waters of Babylon - 805 Words

Angeles Rubio Ms. Helen English 10 September 11, 2013 Knowledge In Society In the stories Harrison Bergeron and By the Waters of Babylon both present a similar plot about society in the future. Both main characters, John and Harrison, question the beliefs and knowledge in their society. For example, Harrison does not agree with the system of everyone being equal; and John’s journey to the Place of Gods lets him gain the knowledge and truth about these places and people to help the people in his society understand. In the story, Harrison Bergeron, one learns that the author, Kurt Vonnegut, does not like the way society is. He does not like how people judge one another because one is not as attractive, or smarter, or funnier. He†¦show more content†¦For example, many things are forbidden like going east, going into a Dead Place, unless one is a priest or a son of a priest and to search for metal, cross the river and look at the place that was once the â€Å"Place of Gods.† On page 292, John’s father is review ing all of the forbidden places. â€Å"All these things are forbidden,† I said, but it was my voice that spoke but not my spirit,† (Benet, p. 292). â€Å"My heart was troubled about going east, yet I knew that I must go.† (Benet, p. 293). John knows going to these places is a sin, but for some reason he seems to knot agree with this. As the story progresses, John is now a man and goes off into his journey. He searches for signs; his first sign was an eagle that went east. John knows it is a sin to go east, but his gut is telling him he should go. However, he believes this was a bad spirit trying to convince him to the wrong thing. His next sign were three deers, as well as a white fawn, another sin. Then he sees a black panther which attacks the white fawn. This represents a ying and a yang, good and evil. John says it is better to die than loose his spirit (Benet, p. 294). At the John decides he will travel to the Place of Gods, even though he might die he wants to know the truth. Once John arrived he realizes all those stories he was told as a boy were false. â€Å"†¦ the tales say, that the ground burned forever, for I have been there†¦.. It is not true either, what some of