Analysis of Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron - Assignment Example

Insert your full (Your (Insert unit Analysis of Harrison Bergeron Becketts and Vonneguts work present human condition as comical. Vonneguts starts by praising major constitutional amendments as the source of equality. Readers are convinced by the author to believe in the theme of equality. However, the evidence presented by the author to prove equality in the text is satirical. Instead of witnessing equality among all members of the society, the handicapper general in conjunction with the team of agents is the one to enforce the law (Kurt Vonnegut). It becomes clear that the handicapper general plus the team of agents are not equal with other members of the society. Looking the text by Becketts, characters are observed engaging in absurd discussions. Pozzo and Lucky stand, to converse with both Vladimir and Estragon, while on their way to the market. The discussion then changes to entertainment, whereby Lucky starts dancing. Throughout the text by Vonneguts, we see George exhibiting happiness. Despite his son being arrested, he does not seem to be sad about it. Audiences expect George to sympathize with his son’s arrest. But instead of being sorry about the son, he is more concerned about equality brought about by constitutional amendment. He appears a funny character throughout the text. Despite believing that everyone, including himself, in the society is equal, he also believes that he is a genius. Looking at the Becketts work, Lucky appears so funny by dancing and thinking for other characters. The way citizens are being treated by fellow citizens and government agents is humorous. Although different treatment is aimed at making everyone equal, the move is heading towards failure. Not everyone believes in equality. The measure of equality is just a strategy to degrade the society by forcing bright people not to use their brains correctly. The government has subjected bright people like George to wear a radio on full time basis. Likewise, characters in “Waiting for Godot” have been portrayed as puppets taking part in incoherent discussions (Beckett). The characters meet and start discussions. The scenario of meaningless discussions as well as tracking and controlling the capability of a group of individuals in the society, at the expense of the spirit of equality, presents a human comical condition. Characters exhibit loss of memory concerning recent events. Kurt Vonnegut reveals that Hazel was crying before, but surprising information is that she cannot tell why. Likewise, Pozzo cannot remember meeting Vladimir and Estragon. Although he is blind (Beckett); this state does not provide a concrete reason for one to forget recent activities, just as it is not logically correct for a person to cry and fail to figure out the reason or cause (Scott A. Socolofsky). A keen analysis of the information presented in the text describing Hazel show that she is a person who understands her environment very well. She is enjoying the dance by ballerinas, and goes ahead to praise it. Also, the text by Beckett provides a scenario of entertainment by use of dances. Characters from both texts seem to enjoy dancing. For instance, Hazel is suggesting creating chime noises for Sundays, so as to generate religious effects among the people. The human condition presented in the two texts bear comical message. There is the aspect of characters embracing the use of dance. In the case of “Waiting for Godot”, Lucky is the one entertaining others through dancing. We also have dancers in “Harrison Bergeron” (Kurt Vonnegut). The handicapper general has forced the dancers to disguise their looks to avoid making viewers to feel bad about their looks. Although putting on masks has an effect of hiding the true appearance of the dancers from the viewers, the handicapper general should not assume that every viewer will be angered by the looks of dancers. The constant noise being transmitted to the ears of intelligent citizens, also, confirms existence of a comical setting. It’s surprising that the government decided to interrupt concentration of intelligent people as a way of making them equal with others. The noise creates disturbance among the affected individual and long term use of it can have negative impacts on the users. Also, the use of dances is aimed at entertaining the audience to satisfy attributes of a comedy. The mental states of the characters in the two texts show comic human condition. Many of the citizens, in the Harrison Bergeron, seem to suffer from average intelligence. For instance, Hazel cannot remember the reason as to why she had been crying. Hazel identified signs of exhaustion in George, but he does not admit feeling exhausted. In comparison, Lucky exhibits loss of memory, by not being able to remember meeting Vladimir and Estragon. The government, also seem determined to reduce mental capacity of the intelligent citizen down to average. That is why intelligent people like George have to put on a Radio twenty four hours in a day. This is a comic strategy aimed at curtailing reasoning capacity of the people. The act of wearing masks and handicaps serves to hide the true identity of the people. The two authors bring out the comic part of the story through the news anchor and Lucky. The audience gets to hear about the escape of Harrison from prison. He then appears in the studio and promises to better his wish of being above everyone. Although he goes on to make true his statements, the joy is short lived. He is shot by the general handicapper. Despite emphasizing the importance of constitutional amendments leading to equality in the society, it is clear that the law does not apply equally to everyone. The handicapper general has been portrayed as someone who is above the others. Similarly, lucky does not seem to be disturbed by his state of being a slave. He is the one entertaining other characters. Analysis of the story by Beckett and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr show that the highest form of laughter is the laughter about human unhappiness. The government is satisfied by reducing the level of intelligent people to average. Similarly, pozzo is going to sell lucky as a slave. Despite being a slave, lucky is happy and takes up the role of entertaining other characters by dancing. The general handicapper is satisfied, and probably, happy about it other citizens wearing masks. While in prison, Harrison went through demeaning treatments. He had to put on big glasses and huge earphones, so as he is not able to see clearly. Also, Pozzo has become blind while his slave is dumb. The states of blindness in the two texts confirm the concept of laughter arising from human unhappiness. Harrison, too, supports the concept of deriving laughter by harassing others. He forces the dancers and the news anchor to obey his commands. The use of comedy is effective when dealing with questions regarding existence of human beings. The story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr as well as that by Beckett brings out humor witnessed during interaction among the people as well as between the government and the people (Kimberly R. Johnson & Bjarne M. Holmes). By use of humor, members of the audience are able to identify the unfair treatment that people have to endure in the society. There is clear demonstration of how intelligent people, like George, have to forego their capabilities for the sake of state laws. Also, a talented Lucky has to endure the state of being a slave. Works Cited Beckett, Samuel. "Waiting for Godot." 1984. www.enotes.com. 22 November 2014 . Kimberly R. Johnson & Bjarne M. Holmes. "Contradictory Messages: A Content Analysis of Hollywood-Produced Romantic Comedy Feature Films." Communication Quarterly; Vol. 57, No. 3, (2009): 352–373. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. "HARRISON BERGERON." 1961. Scott A. Socolofsky. "How to write a research journal article in engineering and science." engineering and science (2004): 1-17. Read More