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Florien
Since: Aug, 2019
14th Jan, 2020 05:54:49 PM
Sounds like Harrison Bergeron
Qwebs
Since: Oct, 2019
15th Jan, 2020 01:04:26 PM
Sounds a bit like Fahrenheit 451 genre, but it seems really familiar to me as well, for some reason.
AgentAndrew0
Since: Oct, 2019
15th Jan, 2020 03:12:21 PM
Yeah, he’s right it’s Harrison Bergeron
taruandtobi
Since: Aug, 2016
16th Jan, 2020 09:51:37 PM
yup, it's Harrison Bergeron! thank you so much everyone, I'll edit it now to say it's solved
Edited by taruandtobi
SOLVED: The story is Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.
I cannot for the life of me remember the author nor when it was written, but I do remember the plot mostly. I do know it's a published author, not fan literature, and I'm certain the title of the work was the name of a character in the story but again, I can't remember the name.
The story went like so; in this world, everyone is forced to be "average" - the intelligent must wear eirpieces which emit loud noises to ruin any train of thought, the strong must carry weights, the beautiful must wear face masks, etc. The story revolves around a husband and wife; the husband has an eirpiece and weights, but the wife is considered of average intelligence and beauty and did not require handicaps. They watch TV together and watch a ballet, however the ballerinas are all weighed down and masked so the performance is mostly a disaster. Then, a convict who recently escaped (this is the character who I believe the story's named after) interrupts the broadcast; he's wearing tonnes of weights, and has eirpieces so large they cover his entire head. He frees himself of his weights, mask and eirpiece to reveal he's quite a handsome, strong lad. He frees one of the ballerinas of her weights and mask, revealing her to be as equally beautiful. The two dance freely and happily before being shot and killed on live television. The husband tries to think about what just happened, but a noise from his eirpiece stops his train of thought, and the wife had already forgotten what played on the television. Life goes on.
I read this story in 2016 for a class, though I don't think the date is helpful as I believe the story came out long before then. I'd like to read it again, so any help is appreciated!
Edited by taruandtobi