In the short story \u201cHarrison Bergeron\u201d, Kurt Vonnegut describes an America that finally embodies equality in the truest form, where no one person overshadows any other person, and all people who have any additional talents or good looks are stifled by the government\u2019s stringent laws. This reading, both deeply dark and ironically satirical, captures a real-life critique of the core values that America prides itself on \u2013 and supposedly carries out in the most effective way \u2013 while pointing to the obvious flaws regarding some of these beliefs.<\/p>\n
Vonnegut makes his satirical target very clear from the get-go, stating \u201cthe year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal [\u2026] they were equal every which way. Nobody was better looking than anyone else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anyone else (1). It seems as though Vonnegut directly responds to the Declaration of Independence that America was founded on, which states that \u201call men are created equal\u201d \u2013 and Vonnegut refutes that by saying that, some 300 years after this document was created, America has finally gotten it right and made everyone equal through extensive trial and error. Vonnegut indirectly reveals his thoughts on total egalitarianism through his tale revolving around Hazel, George and Harrison, pointing out that although an aim for true equality is understandable, a world in which everyone is leveled off under the same conditions could be dangerous. Vonnegut touches on this in the second paragraph, stating, \u201csome things about living still weren\u2019t quite right, though\u201d (1). He starts the second paragraph off with this contradictory statement to undercut the happiness and thrill that one might feel about a place that embodies genuine equality to its most literal sense. The use of the word \u201cthough\u201d reveals that, although at surface level, true equality might seem to be an ideal situation, there are severe downfalls to placing everyone on the same playing field in a functioning society.<\/p>\n
Vonnegut furthers this outlook in the way he chooses to describe how equality is achieved in this futuristic society. He uses the word \u201cmental handicap\u201d (1) to describe how George, a superior man with above-average intelligence, was handicapped and unable to utilize his natural given talents because of this all-equal society that is America in 2081. He was \u201crequired by law to wear it at all times\u201d (1) to ensure that he would never have more intelligence than any other person, namely his wife, Hazel, in this case. Vonnegut\u2019s choice in diction emphasizes the unfair nature of this \u201chandicap\u201d that was mandated by the government and placed on people who were more capable \u2013 smarter, prettier, happier, etc. \u2013 and further emphasizing the issues with a truly equal society. The word \u201chandicap\u201d has a distinct stigma attached to it that implies a quality that hinders ones success and power to perform basic tasks to the best of one\u2019s ability. By placing a \u201chandicap\u201d on people, like George and the performing ballerinas, the government is disallowing them to utilize their full talents and skills.<\/p>\n
Vonnegut\u2019s short story portrays a supposedly ideal culture of equality and balance between all people of society. Vonnegut inserts both his own personal outlook on egalitarianism, as well as the effects he projects would happen should this type of society be implemented. Through directed diction and phrases comparable to historical American documents, Vonnegut displays the problems with true egalitarianism and how that outlook could affect society in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the short story \u201cHarrison Bergeron\u201d, Kurt Vonnegut describes an America that finally embodies equality in the truest form, where no one person overshadows any other person, and all people who have any additional talents or good looks are stifled by the government\u2019s stringent laws. This reading, both deeply dark and ironically satirical, captures a … Continue reading Harrison Bergeron – A False Embodiment of a Truly Equal America<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145910,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2017-blog-posts","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3037"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}