How Does Vonnegut Use Character Development In Harrison Bergeron

An Orwellian-esc future is closer than you can imagine. While not literally, it’s exactly what is seen in the 1961 dystopian science-fiction story Harrison Bergeron written by American author Kurt Vonnegut. Giving some background to the story, Vonnegut wrote this story in 1961 an era of post-WW2 and Cold War tension. You can see how the rise of communism and its objective to make all people equal can be exemplified. In Harrison Bergeron we see a government handicapping it’s own citizens in an effort to make everyone equal. In this story we also see immense character development from Vonnegut in order to advance the theme of equal rights and not equal traits because it makes the story more realistic, ending more dramatic, and characters more

If a character is developed thoroughly and you have a strong relation to them then it can makes it easier to understand their actions. The story ends as most dystopian future ones do; without a major change in leadership and behavior. This is actually more powerful as an ending then if Harrison simply took over the government because it ends with an interchange between George and Hazel, where Hazel had been crying about “something sad on the television”(Vonnegut 44). Even after her son is killed before her on television she can’t comprehend the nature of the situation. George is an even bigger victim of this because as this is occurring he simply stands up and goes to the kitchen for beer. This interchange also highlights the government's control of its people because even as it takes and kills a teenager on live television his parents are powerless to stop it much less even think about it. We know this because Hazel herself mentions that “it’s all kind of mixed up in my mind”(Vonnegut 44). A major point that you could take away from this is that suspension of meaningful thought could be key to keeping a population down and complacent, which the government in the story is very effective