Harrison Bergeron
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Egalitarian Dystopia in ³Harrison Bergeron´
Kurt Vonnegut, in his short story, ³Harrison Bergeron,´ gives a scathing satirical commentary on egalitarianism with his fictional society¶s obsession with universal equality. Vonnegut uses the character: Harrison Bergeron to comment on freedom, civil rights and a society that gradually becomes a dystopia. In the story, society tries to make everyone equal by putting a cap on talent and ability. According to Vonnegut they only succeed in defacing grace beauty and athleticism. Freedom is the prevalent theme in ³Harrison Bergeron.´ Freedom is one of the most cherished values enjoyed by Americans. Vonnegut paints a picture of what the downfall of freedom looks like with the help of the antagonist, Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. In the story Glampers is a powerful government agent who uses her authority to impair those with certain ³unfair´ advantages. She uses weights to hinder the strong, distracting devices to restrict intelligent thought and dreadful masks to cover up beauty and grace. By restricting civic rights, Glampers is able to take away the freedom of her fellow citizens, who are too subjugated to fight back. Civil Rights is a theme that is discussed more lightly in ³Harrison Bergeron.´ Through the use of 213 amendments in the fictional constitution, government has finally forced everyone into equality. The futuristic constitution is compared to the Constitution of the United States, which has only 27 amendments. Through years of Fanatical legislation, oppressive means are established to create and perfect egalitarian utopia. To the contrary, legislative efforts end up only benefiting the mediocre and incompetent. Vonnegut suggests that individual civic freedom should never be surrender, even for the common good.
Vonnegut demonstrates through his short story how a society can over time, change dramatically into something that it was ever intended to be. Changes over a long time span can lead to situation that people would not normally allow outright. The Boston tea party was sparked over a two percent tax rate; in some places in America today tax rates have reached 30 percent. Although Vonnegut illustrates some differenced between modern society and his fictional civilization, the similarities are much more disturbing. Ultimately, Vonnegut¶s message is that if we fail to appreciate our uniqueness and our talents, it will lead to a decline in society.
Works Cited Vonnegut, Kurt. ³Harrison Bergeron.´ Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th ed. Eds. John Schlib and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin¶s, 2009. 1513-1517. Print.
Kurt Vonnegut, in his short story, ³Harrison Bergeron,´ gives a scathing satirical commentary on egalitarianism with his fictional society¶s obsession with universal equality. Vonnegut uses the character: Harrison Bergeron to comment on freedom, civil rights and a society that gradually becomes a dystopia. In the story, society tries to make everyone equal by putting a cap on talent and ability. According to Vonnegut they only succeed in defacing grace beauty and athleticism. Freedom is the prevalent theme in ³Harrison Bergeron.´ Freedom is one of the most cherished values enjoyed by Americans. Vonnegut paints a picture of what the downfall of freedom looks like with the help of the antagonist, Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. In the story Glampers is a powerful government agent who uses her authority to impair those with certain ³unfair´ advantages. She uses weights to hinder the strong, distracting devices to restrict intelligent thought and dreadful masks to cover up beauty and grace. By restricting civic rights, Glampers is able to take away the freedom of her fellow citizens, who are too subjugated to fight back. Civil Rights is a theme that is discussed more lightly in ³Harrison Bergeron.´ Through the use of 213 amendments in the fictional constitution, government has finally forced everyone into equality. The futuristic constitution is compared to the Constitution of the United States, which has only 27 amendments. Through years of Fanatical legislation, oppressive means are established to create and perfect egalitarian utopia. To the contrary, legislative efforts end up only benefiting the mediocre and incompetent. Vonnegut suggests that individual civic freedom should never be surrender, even for the common good.
Vonnegut demonstrates through his short story how a society can over time, change dramatically into something that it was ever intended to be. Changes over a long time span can lead to situation that people would not normally allow outright. The Boston tea party was sparked over a two percent tax rate; in some places in America today tax rates have reached 30 percent. Although Vonnegut illustrates some differenced between modern society and his fictional civilization, the similarities are much more disturbing. Ultimately, Vonnegut¶s message is that if we fail to appreciate our uniqueness and our talents, it will lead to a decline in society.
Works Cited Vonnegut, Kurt. ³Harrison Bergeron.´ Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th ed. Eds. John Schlib and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin¶s, 2009. 1513-1517. Print.
