George’s comments on competition, laws, and society are very ironic. Hazel was telling George to take a few heavy balls out of the bag, but George refused and said, “I don’t mind it, I don’t notice it any more. It’s just a part of me” (60 Vonnegut). George was saying that if he tried to get away with taking out the balls then, “other people‘d get away with it – and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else” (60 Vonnegut). This is ironic because they were talking about the world falling apart if he does this, but it’s pretty obvious that the world is already falling apart.

In the end of the story, I think the author is trying to get at the fact that making everyone the same can affect their personality and how they think as well. George is a very brilliant character in this story but he can never get far on a thought because of his handicap in his ear.  The author wants to demonstrate how people’s opinions can be effortlessly altered or completely changed. He expresses this when Hazel is sad but cannot remember why she felt that way, and forgets it entirely, forgetting about her own son. It also demonstrates how easily society can be brain-washed, without even noticing through different methods. A modern method that could be used for brain-washing is media.