Diana Moon Glampers In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

In the fictional short story “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut characterizes Diana Moon Glampers as cruel through her actions. Diana Moon Glampers is the Handicapper General, which is synonymous to supreme controller of every soul in dystopian America. And, wow, she takes the ´controller´ part to a new level. Firstly, Diana’s wicked use of the handicaps help portray her as cruel. Handicaps are a vital part of dystopian America’s agenda to keep everybody ‘equal’, but they’re nothing short of fiendish, since “every twenty seconds or so, [a] transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people ... from taking unfair advantage of their brains” (2). Physical handicaps aren't any worse; they’re weights that hang around the more capable citizens necks (H). Only
When, “[the Handicap General] aimed it at the musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps back on” (5), there was no sign that would indicate that she just murdered two people. Hesitation, distress, alarm, any sign of regret are all absent in Diana Moon Glampers (I). The only thing that shows is sheer determination. Giving no regard to any of their lives, she attempts, and succeeds, to retain order, despite the horrid way she does it (F). It's hard to believe that anybody would willingly take away anybody´s free will to the point where they can barely operate by themselves. Giving a person like the Handicapper General the power over other people's lives proves to be an awful idea, as they could misuse their power for evil. Now, the true definition of cruel is to willfully cause pain or distress to others. To be rigid; stern; strict; or unrelentingly severe. Diana’s character is nothing short of this (G). She embodies the inhumanity it takes to fill the shoes of a cruel, apathetic person through her