Difference Between Oryx And Harrison Bergeron

What does the word perfect mean? Well, according to the Webster Dictionary, it means “being entirely without fault or defect” and/or “corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept.” Many people strive to be perfect. Whether it is the perfect hair, the perfect group of friends, or the perfect body; people strive for a perfect life. But is a perfect life an achievable thing? Everyone has a different idea of perfection, therefore; it is impossible to find one that we can all agree on. But the media sure does give everyone an idea of what perfection really looks like. Women must be skinny with smooth skin and men have to be muscular with great hair. “These cultural messages feed the deepest insecurity in ourselves and encourage us to …show more content…
People with a taller stature were given heavy weights to carry that made them sink down, beautiful people were given hideous masks to hide their beauty, and the intellectually inclined were given an earpiece that did not allow them to take an “unfair advantage of their brains” (Vonnegut 1). The government tortured and dehumanized those with special talents or natural gifts and the citizens went along with it. They conformed to the government's beliefs because they were afraid to be themselves. “They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” (Vonnegut) Equality is more or less achieved, but at the cost of freedom and individual achievement. This type of social conformity created a society that may have seemed equal, but ultimately led to the government humiliate and abuse its citizens. The government uses the citizens’ fear of more handicaps as a tool to keep everyone …show more content…
He is seen as the perfect image of beauty and was worshiped because of it. Wilde writes, “...portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty...who looks as if he was made out of ivory and rose-leaves…” (4-5). In this society, beautiful people were praised and held at a higher level just because of their looks. That is the case for the Crakers as well. They are treated with more respect than regular humans just because of how they look. This behavior, of course, makes those who are not as attractive feel insecure, neglected, and broken. In today’s society, some people are famous and successful based solely on that fact that they have a pretty face. They use society’s fixation on perfection as an advantage to get what they want while others have to work for what they want. In the novel, Dorian gets invited to fancy parties and is treated like royalty, and Basil, the artist, is often pushed to the side. This society also created the stereotypes of how beautiful people are not intelligent and intelligent people are not beautiful. They believe that “...beauty, real beauty, ends where any intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face” (Wilde 5). How can any society be “perfect” if people are putting others down and destroying their