Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Skilled authors know how to utilize diction, details, and language, just to name a few, to create a tone or central message. In a short story, Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was able to manipulate details to create his own theme in his work. Vonnegut was able to generate a dystopian society in this particular writing with elements such as imagery, details, and language. With these three factors, he shows us his thoughts on what a society with total equality can be like.

To begin, “Harrison Bergeron” starts off in the future, also stating that “everybody was finally equal” (Vonnegut 1). This small part of the story is actually very important in the, seeing how the whole story revolves around the idea of equality. Vonnegut’s main message

As George watched the ballerinas on tv, he knew they weren’t any better than anyone else, due to total equality. He described them as “burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked.” This was so that “no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat dug in.” At times, the sounds playing from the radio could be so unpleasant that it would hurt whoever is in ownership of one. One sound in particular, caused George to be “white and trembling, [as] tears stood on the rims of his red eyes” (2). Adding to his reaction, you can tell that the handicap that he has can really take a toll on what goes on their heads. Vonnegut uses the factor of imagery to make us picture what society would look like with the way it is made in the story. He puts the image of hideous masks and weights on our bodies to make some equal to others, and what painful sounds ringing in our ears, in our heads to further show his

Language in “Harrison Bergeron” can be simple and precise. One ballerina who had been talking on tv, was “extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous.” (2). This style of language develops our characters, allowing us to know they while having it go straight to the point. Also another example of language choice with the ballerina, not only is her face seen as beautiful, but her voice is also apart of her mesmerizing qualities. The ballerina’s voice was “warm, luminous, [a] timeless melody” (2) as she spoke. These words can be described as emotional, having us feel a certain way when we imagine her voice be one that is calming and not hard to listen to. Doing this, Vonnegut makes us realize something that would be lost to equality, which is a person’s voice. Being in a world where total equality must exist, the ballerina is forced to make her voice uncompetitive for