Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” was written by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s story was published in 1961 in a popular magazine at the time. The magazine was called The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The short story was published again in 1968, whenever Vonnegut wanted to make a collection of his own work. His book is called Welcome To The Monkey House. The short story “Harrison Bergeron” takes place in the year 2081 where everybody is equal. The story takes place in a year where people are controlled by the government. The way the government makes everyone equal is by using something called handicaps. Some people think this story is about equal rights and Vonnegut wants everybody to be equal, however I believe Vonnegut made this story …show more content…
In the following quotes Harrison and the ballerina are violating laws made by the handicapper general “Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. ‘Last of all he removed her mask’” (Vonnegut 6). In this quote after taking off his own handicaps Harrison took off the Ballerina’s handicaps. The handicaps revealed Harrison’s true strength and the Ballerina’s natural beauty. The general made them wear those handicaps so they would be equal to everyone else. Harrison and the Ballerina are no longer equal to the others, which ruins the Handicapper General’s idea of a perfect society. Therefore Harrison and the ballerina are going against governmental control. One right of every citizen is freedom of speech! The following quote is from an essay written by Mike Perschon “We need to act like Harrison and rise up to cast off the handicaps that bring us down to the level of mediocrity” (Perschon). This quote is talking about the scene where Harrison and the ballerina remove their handicaps. Not only is Perschon relating to the story, but he is also proving the idea that Vonnegut is going against governmental control. Perschon is describing how every citizen should stand up for what they believe in like Harrison Bergeron …show more content…
It doesn’t matter if someone does not agree with the law every law needs to be followed. Whenever somebody violates or disrespects one of these laws they must deal with the outcome. In the middle of“Harrison Bergeron” George and Hazel are talking about the handicaps then Hazel suggests that George takes off his handicaps and George replies with “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out” (Vonnegut 4). George is talking about the punishment and fee he will have to pay. Even if George lightened the weight in the handicaps he would have the same punishment. In real life if a person breaks the law they go to jail, or prison it depends how bad the crime they committed. By suggesting to George that he takes off his handicaps Hazel was going against the law without realizing it. A perfect society cannot exist because everybody has flaws, nobody is perfect. In the essay “Harrison Bergeron Essay” written by Lauren Bradshaw she states “Yet, the author through example actions and accounts supports how a perfect society cannot exist and relays some of the flaws and hindrances that may account to the downfall of the ‘perfect’ society” (Bradshaw). This quote explains how the flaws of people and other factors might be the end of a perfect society. How can a society be perfect whenever it has flaws? In order for people to be equal all rights

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