Symbols In Harrison Bergeron

In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. it takes place in a society that makes everyone equivalent. In the short story, Vonnegut suggests that total equality is not an ideal worth striving for, which is saying if everyone functions exactly the same, then the extraordinary will be the ordinary. Harrison Bergeron tries to be the savior of the society and makes a stand showing how prejudiced this civilization is, but he ends up failing in the end. Harrison Bergeron, although viewed as despicable, is a symbolic representation of the community that is above average. As Harrison walked into the theater, everyone was frightened and nervous and didn’t know what he was going to do. In the chapter “Is That a Symbol?” from the book How to Read Literature like a Professor, Foster states that symbols, though, generally don’t work so neatly. Harrison didn’t work neatly. He had to act like he was going to set off a bomb under the theater just to get the attention and respect from the audience. Without the knowledge of the government, Harrison actually didn’t set off the bombs, but he just simply turned back on the TV screens after the government turned them off. By this happening, you could already tell how smart Harrison is and how he’s the symbol of the people above
If you are above average, the government tries to put a cap on your capabilities. In the chapter “It’s All Political” from the book How to Read Literature like a Professor, Foster states, that the political writing engages the realities of its world- that thinks about human problems, including those in the social and political area, that addresses the rights of persons and the wrongs of those in power. The government in the story is choosing to use their power in the wrong way. They aren’t letting humans be above average because they are scared and worried about what they would be able to do in the