Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut

In the story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, the feat of true equality has been obtained, but at a sour expense. The short story details a world where everyone is truly equal, so much to the point that equality has costed everyone their individuality and, in some cases, intelligence. The story takes place with two characters, Hazel and George Bergeron. They are watching ballerinas on television, when the story’s antagonist, Harrison Bergeron enters the scene and breaks his handicaps, being both intelligent and smart. He claims to become the new emperor, and dances with one of the ballerinas.

You live in the year 2081. Everyone is equal. No one is smarter, better looking, stronger or quicker than anybody else. You wear handicaps that restrict your strength, intelligence and how you look. You can 't do anything about it.

ABSTRACT: Kurt Vonnegut is arguably the finest black humourist and postmodern writer of contemporary times. Vonnegut primarily used the genre of science fiction, nevertheless his works portray the gravity of contemporary issues and have close parallels with the current socio-economic and political milieu of America. Vonnegut wrote fourteen novels, three short story collections, five plays and five works of non-fiction. Although he primarily received acclaim for his novels, yet most of his short stories are written in the same strain. Two short stories: “Harrison Bergeron” and “2 B R 0 2 B” will be analyzed in this paper.

Harrison Bergeron In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s story, “Harrison Bergeron,” literary elements symbolism, imagery, and tragedy reveal the author’s perspective on what society would be like if everyone was equal. Handicaps were a major part of the story “Harrison Bergeron.” The Handicaps symbolized how society is attempting to limit everyone to mediocrity. Of all of the handicaps, the body weight seemed to be the harshest.

The Mask Behind Equality “Harrison Bergeron”, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, is about a 14 year old boy named Harrison Bergeron. He lives in the year 2081, where anything and everything is equal. The people who were very intelligent, had to bare handicaps so they did not take advantage of their minds. The handicaps were bags with lead balls worn around the neck, and an earpiece that would send out loud noises to stop all train of thought. Harrison did not like the equality laws, as he wants to be Emperor.

In his short story “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut presents a vision of a distant future in which Americans have been forced into slavery disguised as equality through the use of physical and mental handicaps. This frightening vision represents a common theme in science fiction literature as it “depicts a future government that controls its people by eliminating mental stimulation” and “warns of controlling trends in society” (69). For example The government in our short story has given all the smart people in their nation a headset to keep them from thinking deeply. “the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” (3) By doing this, the government has turned everyone

As an illustration to why individuals are important to society is their inclination of assimilate towards information, ideas, and culture. By way of example in the non-fictional story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Kurt Vonnegut Jr. states, “Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen, has escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.” Thus this is to say that Harrison did not just stand with his arms crossed nut took initiative despite the consequences of cruel and unreasonable punishments showing the importance of individuals putting in initiative into their society. Subsequently another reason why individuals are vital to society is because of their actions. Take in consideration Anthem by Ayn

Government Control Everyone has felt smarter or maybe not so smart, due to others intelligence once in their lifetime. In a world full of different people this can happen often. However, what if there were a world where everyone was equal? No person was smarter than the other, and everyone had the same level of intelligence. In the movie, Harrison Bergeron, he is a very gifted boy who is against a “government” that makes the entire society equal by handicapping the more gifted, down to the level of the less fortunate or incapable.(Bruce “Harrison”)

Imagine a world with complete equality. No one more skilled, more intelligent or more attractive than another. Where failure is applauded and mediocrity is the social norm. This is the world in the short story “Harrison Bergeron,” written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1961. Vonnegut illustrates the disasters of an extremely equal society through the use of satirical irony, imagery and characterization.

In “HARRISON BERGERON” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., a society is introduced in which everything is ‘equal’. Everyone has the same intelligence, strength, speed, and is similar to one another in every sense. However, in order for this equality, those who are above average must be handicapped until they have no advantage over their peers. Along with this, George is forced to deal with constant pain, whether it’s gunfire or ball peen hammers in his head. This shows how complete equality is impossible, and the pursuit of it only causes inequality.