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Satire In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is a satirical short story in which Vonnegut implies, if society interprets equality literally, there would be no significance between humans. The protagonist Harrison has escaped from prison and his parents Hazel and George are watching the program he appears upon, as he insists he is an emperor and the first female to rebel will be his empress. Following this rant he discards his handicaps making him appear god like. Soon after, the Handicapper General kills the emperor and his empress with a "double-barrelled ten-gauge shotgun"(pg. 64). Harrison depicts as an exaggeration as his "appearance was Halloween and hardware"(pg. 62). The government considers him as "a genius and an athlete"(pg. 61) and "is under …show more content…

Hazel is watching his death,"she fired twice, and the emperor and the empress were dead before they hit the floor"(pg. 64). Hazel has little to no reaction, she sobs for a minute then George questions why she is crying, but she can not recall what she had seen as it was something very sad on television. As Hazel is of average intelligence it justifies why she could not quickly remember what she had seen. Nevertheless, her reaction is inhumane and insensitive as she suggests "that one was a doozy"(pg. 65) because the parents can not see what unfair and cruel world they livers they view it as fair. Equality blinds Hazel and George, failing to comprehend they are being deprived of their freedom and individuality. Harrison attempts to overthrow the rule of the government but he never has the chance at unseating the government because the laws are too powerful. "Harrison Bergeron" captures achieving equality, if we give up individuality and freedom, which are two things people fight to acquire. I believe freedom helps express our individuality as it is not worth giving up for total equality in the

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