The Headstrong Historian By Kurt Vonnegut - 1043 Words

A short story about a dystopian future in which everyone is equal and a short story about a Nigerian family reclaiming their history, on the surface, seem unalike, but Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Harrison Burgeron† and Chimanda Ngozi Adichie’s â€Å"The Headstrong Historian† bear a strong resemblance when further examined. â€Å"Harrison Burgeron† and â€Å"The Headstrong Historian†, while seemingly different stories, share many similar themes and ideas. While â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† mainly considers people’s concept of equality this is not the central theme of â€Å"The Headstrong Historian†. They both delve into the theme of oppression. Vonnegut wrote â€Å"Harrison Burgeron† in 1961 while Adichie wrote â€Å"The Headstrong Historian† in 2008. Vonnegut’s short story was written in the midst of the Cold War, suggesting a potential connection to the ideas of communism and socialism. Adichie is a writer famous for her work in which she closely examines African culture. On a surface level, these stories could not seem more different. â€Å"Harrison Burgeron† and â€Å"the Headstrong Historian† obviously have completely different settings. The beginning of â€Å"Harrison Burgeron† informs the reader that it takes place in the United States in the year 2081. The majority of â€Å"The Headstrong Historian† takes place in West Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s. â€Å"Harrison Burgeron† takes place in a society where change seems to be nowhere in sight. In â€Å"The Headstrong Historian†, Nwamgba finds herself in â€Å"a world that increasingly made no