Equal Society In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron
“When I encounter people who try to make me feel lesser than equal, I don’t argue. My equality is not up for debate, it is an implicit.” In Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut creates a seeming perfect utopian society that achieved equality in 2081. But equality comes with a price. The intelligent wear radios on their ears to stunt their thoughts, masks adorn the faces of those with beauty, and strong, able bodies bear the literal and physical weights to obstruct the appearance that they are better than those without strength, beauty, and intelligence. Vonnegut uses word choice and characterization to warn the readers of the potential drawbacks of a truly equal society in his writing. Harrison Bergeron, the main character of the story, is used to characterize the loss of humanity in a utopian society. Kurt Vonnegut uses Harrison to criticize the fact that if we are truly
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equal, we lose our humanity and ourselves.
For example, when Harrison is shown on the television screen in the Bergerons’s home, he is shown to have radios on his ears, spectacles to make him blind, and to offset his appearance, shaved his eyebrows and cover his teeth with black caps. He is covered in scrap metal to weigh him down, and as Vonnegut states, “looked like a walking junkyard” (3). This image of Harrison creates the realization that he has had his humanity and identity stripped away so the people in the city feel more equal. His ability to endure demanding hardships is implied about his character as Vonnegut describes the one man in their society that is the embodiment of rebellion. Harrison conveys the loss of humanity in this dystopian society in when Harrison Bergeron is dancing with a ballerina and Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, shoots them down without warning. Vonnegut is criticizing true equality by using this scene to
show that the jealously that created the oppressive equality will kill, or dehumanize a person. When Harrison and his chosen Empress, the ballerina, were dancing to express their freedom from oppression, Diana Moon Glampers storms in and shoots them midair, “The Emperor and Empress were dead before they hit the ground” (5). This scene in the book shows how powerful Harrison is in Diana Moon Glampers eyes, how dangerous to their society. This helps infer that he is an emotionally strong man that carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. This is used to characterize the fact that with true equality, any form of diversity is a threat and being unique can’t be accepted in an equal society. Another example of the criticism shown by Vonnegut is portrayed in the character of George Bergeron. George is an intelligent, athletic man but is weighed down physically and metaphorically by the society’s need for equality. He has to wear radios on his ears to impede his thoughts and weights on his chest to remove his vigor. Mental abilities and physical strength may be shallow qualities, but they contribute to our genetic makeup. While George is sitting on the couch with his wife, Hazel, she advises he rest his weights so he can relax. “If I tried to get away with it,’ Says George, ‘then other people’d get away with it – and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again.’” This displays Georges’ passivity when it comes to the government and society. He would rather suffer and keep their “equality” then go back to their prehistoric ways. George’s passivity is a sign of being worn down, which can help the reader infer that he is worn down from loss of freedom. George can’t be his intelligent, healthy self because he was taught that equality is losing all freedom. The final example of how Vonnegut criticizes the true equality in Harrison Bergeron is how the equality causes loss freedom. While George is talking to Hazel, he reveals an important character trait that creates sympathy for him. Vonnegut states, “George weighed the bags in his hands. ‘I don’t mind it,’ He said, ‘I don’t notice it anymore. It’s just a part of me ‘” (2). This quote shows that George has a “the good of the many outweighs the good of the few” mentality. He is broken down and beaten after years of being weighed down physically and mentally. He has accepted the loss of his freedom to be who he is, and does not fight it. Vonnegut uses many literary devices such as characterization to criticize the loss of freedom the citizens experience in 2081. George’s character supports this loss of freedom because of his basic fundamental qualities are stripped from him to make others feel better about themselves. George and Harrison Bergeron are all symbols of the agony of living with true equality. Vonnegut uses them to criticize the fact that true equality, while it may sound like the solution to many problems, is in actuality the cause of oppression, tyranny, and misery. Harrison Bergeron is a cautionary tale told to warn future generations of the dangers of becoming “handicapped” by technology and striving for true equality where it is not needed, but how far are we truly from the reality seen in Harrison Bergeron?
equal, we lose our humanity and ourselves.
For example, when Harrison is shown on the television screen in the Bergerons’s home, he is shown to have radios on his ears, spectacles to make him blind, and to offset his appearance, shaved his eyebrows and cover his teeth with black caps. He is covered in scrap metal to weigh him down, and as Vonnegut states, “looked like a walking junkyard” (3). This image of Harrison creates the realization that he has had his humanity and identity stripped away so the people in the city feel more equal. His ability to endure demanding hardships is implied about his character as Vonnegut describes the one man in their society that is the embodiment of rebellion. Harrison conveys the loss of humanity in this dystopian society in when Harrison Bergeron is dancing with a ballerina and Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, shoots them down without warning. Vonnegut is criticizing true equality by using this scene to
show that the jealously that created the oppressive equality will kill, or dehumanize a person. When Harrison and his chosen Empress, the ballerina, were dancing to express their freedom from oppression, Diana Moon Glampers storms in and shoots them midair, “The Emperor and Empress were dead before they hit the ground” (5). This scene in the book shows how powerful Harrison is in Diana Moon Glampers eyes, how dangerous to their society. This helps infer that he is an emotionally strong man that carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. This is used to characterize the fact that with true equality, any form of diversity is a threat and being unique can’t be accepted in an equal society. Another example of the criticism shown by Vonnegut is portrayed in the character of George Bergeron. George is an intelligent, athletic man but is weighed down physically and metaphorically by the society’s need for equality. He has to wear radios on his ears to impede his thoughts and weights on his chest to remove his vigor. Mental abilities and physical strength may be shallow qualities, but they contribute to our genetic makeup. While George is sitting on the couch with his wife, Hazel, she advises he rest his weights so he can relax. “If I tried to get away with it,’ Says George, ‘then other people’d get away with it – and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again.’” This displays Georges’ passivity when it comes to the government and society. He would rather suffer and keep their “equality” then go back to their prehistoric ways. George’s passivity is a sign of being worn down, which can help the reader infer that he is worn down from loss of freedom. George can’t be his intelligent, healthy self because he was taught that equality is losing all freedom. The final example of how Vonnegut criticizes the true equality in Harrison Bergeron is how the equality causes loss freedom. While George is talking to Hazel, he reveals an important character trait that creates sympathy for him. Vonnegut states, “George weighed the bags in his hands. ‘I don’t mind it,’ He said, ‘I don’t notice it anymore. It’s just a part of me ‘” (2). This quote shows that George has a “the good of the many outweighs the good of the few” mentality. He is broken down and beaten after years of being weighed down physically and mentally. He has accepted the loss of his freedom to be who he is, and does not fight it. Vonnegut uses many literary devices such as characterization to criticize the loss of freedom the citizens experience in 2081. George’s character supports this loss of freedom because of his basic fundamental qualities are stripped from him to make others feel better about themselves. George and Harrison Bergeron are all symbols of the agony of living with true equality. Vonnegut uses them to criticize the fact that true equality, while it may sound like the solution to many problems, is in actuality the cause of oppression, tyranny, and misery. Harrison Bergeron is a cautionary tale told to warn future generations of the dangers of becoming “handicapped” by technology and striving for true equality where it is not needed, but how far are we truly from the reality seen in Harrison Bergeron?