Communism In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the author displays his opinions about the Cold War and communism by writing a story exaggerating what communism could eventually turn into. During the Cold War, a main issue being discussed was communism. Communism is a political theory that believes all property should be owned by the government, each person should do their fair share of work, and that citizens should be paid according to their abilities and needs. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote a story to display the reasons why communism is faulty. In “Harrison Bergeron,” he text states “everyone is finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. …show more content…
A Communist government owns all the property and is in control. This can lead to corrupt leadership and can even lead to dictatorships. In the passage, the government has all the control and is corrupt. To control the thinking of the citizens, the government requires people who have an intelligence above average to each wear “a little mental handicap radio.” In the text George says “‘Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out,’” referencing the weights he had to wear to minimize his strength. Otherwise, everyone would not have equal strength. This shows how controlling the government is and how total equality isn’t perfect. The people in the story have no choice and are forced to do what the government wants them to do. Vonnegut, Jr. knows that people don’t want to live in a world like the one Harrison Bergeron lives in, so he made this story to convince people that communism wouldn’t be beneficial to society. By creating a story about a dystopian world and comparing to communism, it show the reader why communism isn’t a good solution and total equality isn’t an idea that would positively impact
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