Irony In Kurt Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron'

Kristiana Alva

Dr. Russell

ENG 102

28 Feb 2020

Masking the Obvious To be equal to others, in terms of intelligence, appearance, and fitness, seems like the perfect solution to stop competition among citizens of the United States; however, Kurt Vonnegut contradicts this idea in his dystopian short story, “Harrison Bergeron.” Vonnegut uses irony, symbolism, and setting to portray how the danger of conformity lies in stripping people of their individuality. The fiction element, irony, is depicted throughout the story by contradicting the meaning of the word “equal.” For example, citizens like George Bergeron aren’t free to think without a loud noise, which comes from their mental handicaps, interrupting them. In contrast, citizens like

A quote from the story that points this out occurs during a conversation between Hazel and George when he describes the recent sound from his mental handicap. Vonnegut wrote her response, “‘I think it would be real interesting, hearing all those sounds,’ said Hazel a little envious” (Vonnegut). Hazel’s jealous reply implies that the citizens with “perfectly average intelligence” (Vonnegut), still envy the citizens with qualities considered anything above average. It indicates how the average citizens view themselves as lesser than those with

Using the United States to set the scene gives context explaining why the current circumstances unfolded in the first place. The context regarding the United States is evident when Hazel tries telling George to remove the birdshot from the bag around his neck, “‘If I tried to get away with it,’ said George, ‘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.’” (Vonnegut). When he says this, George hints that citizens of the U.S. became so competitive that the government deemed it necessary to create laws prohibiting anyone from surpassing others; instead of proposing a rational solution to end competition, the government added unjust amendments to the Constitution, enforcing citizens into blind