The story Harrison Bergeron, written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., takes place in 2081 in the United States. The story is written in the third person, with the reader getting a glimpse into George Bergeron’s mind. The core subject of equality is established from the outset. Since the novel is satirical, the descriptions of equality deviate from what people often imagine when someone claims they seek justice. Being average meant no one was stronger, more attractive, innovative, or faster than everyone else. In his story, the author discusses the concept of the Tall Poppy Syndrome. The societal phenomenon occurs when people are insulted, demeaned, hated, and condemned by society for their accomplishments or skills. Vonnegut critiques the government in Harrison Bergeron by using indirect characterization, cynicism, and suffering. This is made clear throughout the narrative and will be further evaluated in this analysis.
The narrative implies that complete equality between people is not something to strive for because it is risky and likely to have unintended consequences. The short story showed the creation of an egalitarian society, where everyone is made equal strictly “through cruel, authoritarian means” (Abdul Latiff et al., 2020, p. 27). The equality, mindset, and physicality of a totalitarian regime are the main topics being stated in the very beginning by the phrase, “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” (Vonnegut, 1991, p. 1). In this story, the government constructed brutal, mind-controlling technologies that were used against the populace to achieve social, mental, and physical equality.
Hazel, the wife of George Bergeron, is considered ordinary in every respect, including voice, strength, intelligence, and attractiveness. The government wants George to stop thinking about his disabilities, his weight since he is strong, and his ear transmitter because he is astute. Because the government has brainwashed George into believing that if handicaps did not exist, society would revert to the previous eras, and everyone would again be competitive, George believes that handicaps are reasonable, thinking that he is a product of his disabilities, also being unable to focus for a long time. Thus, he is unable even to contemplate what is good or wrong. His disability has, as a result, shaped who he is. Hazel, on the other hand, is the opposite since she has “perfectly average intelligence, which meant she could not think about anything except in short bursts” (Vonnegut, 1991, p. 1). Since they only want average or below-ordinary people, Harrison’s character is seen as a societal threat because he is highly above average, brilliant, and athletic. He has a unique appearance and is charming. He has an arrogant personality and longs for freedom.
Social ties are significant because they show an impermeable link to society that benefits both the community and the individual. Although the citizen may be compelled to give away some of his rights, he receives other valuable benefits from society in exchange. Social connections are thus a type of social contract that ensures the upkeep of the community, the current state of affairs, and the citizen. The removal of Harrison Bergeron’s handicaps serves as a metaphor for someone escaping the constraints of society’s social relationships. People behaving this way are typically classified as criminals, sociopaths, or psychopaths. For his refusal to uphold the forced social ties placed upon him, Harrison Bergeron in the story Harrison Bergeron is branded as a criminal.
Harrison’s dance with the ballerina is to symbolize how the world might be if people were able to express themselves and display their beauty, brilliance, and other physical qualities. “Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while-listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats with it…And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang! Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well. They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun. They leaped like deer on the moon” (Vonnegut, 1991, p. 4). These few passages highlight this moment’s tremendous and precious when it isn’t suppressed. Harrison’s dance with the ballerina exemplifies unadulterated, ideal freedom. The text is exaggerated and upbeat, describing feats that an average person cannot accomplish. The Handicapper General enters the studio and shoots Harrison and the dancer, which only lasts for a short period until the speed picks up and the tone shifts. The goal of this dance is to demonstrate to everyone how beautiful differences can be. By depicting a charming, beautiful sight rather than the typically harsh tones, the paragraph affects how the story is told. By structuring the scene in a particular way, the author demonstrates to the reader how, despite appearances, no one is truly equal and that a society with perfect equality is not possible. People who experience physical or mental disabilities feel imprisoned and shut away. They are liberated and able to fly once they have been removed.
George and Hazel feel something is wrong after their son is killed and the crime is broadcast on television, but they cannot make sense of it. They are unable to express strong emotions. Because of the state’s social training and the limitations placed on people like George, they lack emotional literacy. In this way, the condition can keep individuals under control. A dystopian nightmare society also exists in Fahrenheit 451. The situation encourages vapid feelings, manipulating individuals by pressing bland lives and ideas. Like Harrison Bergeron, little emotional literacy exists, and most individuals lead meaningless detached lives.
The novel’s first words are, “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way” (Vonnegut, 1991, p. 1). Even though it may seem like the ideal society or paradise, after reading the entire account, it is clear to the realization that such equality has come at the sacrifice of liberty and individuality. The author clearly sees and depicts the equality system as “something ridiculous” (Oktarini, 2020, p.51).
Harrison Bergeron, a short fictional story by Vonnegut, emphasizes the value of striking a balance between equality, freedom, and individualism. The narrative explains how equality should not be confused with uniformity and warns about the consequences of stifling originality. The advancement of knowledge and technology is one of the themes frequently present here. Although the narrative does not explicitly criticize technology, it highlights the insanity of permitting technology to advance beyond conscious control. A futuristic device is an example of the technique of mental handicapping that George Bergeron must accept – a small cognitive handicap transmitter in his ear. Harrison, his child, must also wear bulky earbuds and unique glasses that impair his eyesight and give him pain. The government’s required physical handicaps are reasonably simple, consisting of canvas sacks filled with lead balls to impair physical abilities and masks to reduce beauty, in contrast to the sophisticated technology employed to harm George and Harrison intellectually. In conclusion, the narrative depicts a dystopia in which the government uses technology to manage its populace.
Works Cited
Abdul Latiff, Muhammad Farid, and Hannah Feisal. “The Poverty of Equality: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Harrison Bergeron”. ResearchGate, vol. 4, 2020, pp. 27-35. Web.
Oktarini, Rahayu. “An Analysis of Irony in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.”. Journal of English education, vol. 3, no. 1, 2020, pp. 47-55. Web.
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. Harrison Bergeron. Alphascript Publishing, 1961.