Harrison Bergeron

Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" tells of a society forced to be equal in every way. Vonnegut makes the government control so strong that it satires the path the U.S government is heading toward. In the U.S different organizations try to make people equal in practically every way, which is what Vonnegut is ridiculing. For example, affirmative action has been created to get minority groups equal to caucasian groups, equalizing their chance at oppertunities. Recent efforts have been made to restrict affirmative action because people believe minority groups are getting too much of a handicap, making the playing field unequal once again. It is a game of tug of war trying to make every single citizen equal.

In "Harrison Bergeron" Vonnegut tries to explain that all things are not always meant to be equal. People are different and it is in these differences that create an interesting and creative world. Without it, life would be like it is in the society Vonnegut describes. "They weren't really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway" (Vonnegut pg.1 par. 3). With everyone handicapped to be the same, talent is not able to be expressed, or even exist. Life is bland and without thought stimulation there is not room for progress. Art, thought, talent, innovation, are all repressed. But, atleast everyone is equal and no one is left envious of another person.

His purpose is strengthened by making the story told in third person instead of in first. By doing this he makes the situation more official, as if it is probable that the world could become as it is described. Had the story been in first person it becomes more fiction and the meaning and intensity is lost. It keeps its formality and allows the reader to think and even to worry.

In this story Vonnegut further states that "...men and women remaining fundamentally the same, no matter what technology surrounds them” . This is the whole basis of Vonnegut's story. Both women and men are given handicaps as a way to make everyone equal to one another. This makes the statement true. In "Harrison Bergeron" George is said to be smarter than his wife, Hazel. Because he is more intellectual, he is forced to be subjected various noises in his ears which prevent any extensive thought. Thus making Hazel and George to be equal in every way.