Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Equality: the idea that no one person is better than any other. Society has been striving for equality for decades. In Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s story “Harrison Bergeron” this concept is reality. The Handicapper General makes sure that nobody is smarter, prettier, stronger, or sounds better than anybody else. The order set up by the Handicapper General is similar to that of an extreme communist government. The means in which everyone is made equal can be seen as overkill.

Communism is the idea of eliminating class wars, and having a society where all property is publicly owned. Not having classes, and making property public eliminates someone being better than anyone else economically. In “Harrison Bergeron”, they take a step forward and don’t allow people to be better in any way possible. The story starts by letting us know this: “The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal.” (Harrison Bergeron). We are then thrown into the home of Hazel and George Bergeron, the parents of Harrison. Harrison has been put in

prison for accusations of overthrowing the government. By stating everyone is finally equal, the reader is lead to think that equality has been a battle lasting for years.
Very few communist countries still stand today.

The Soviet Union fell, China is slowly moving towards a market economy, and Cuba is allowing more freedoms. The “battle” for freedom is always a long and drawn out one, and freedom doesn’t always prevail. Rebellions in Cuba have been happening many times over the years. One of the most famous was the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in which the United States was secretly helping the invasion by providing weapons. The rebels were overtaken and publicly humiliated and put in prisons. In the story, it is hinted that there was dark ages in which the reader could conclude a war for freedom occurred. While talking about removing one of the handicaps, George brings this time up: “If I tried to get away with it, other people’d get away with it-and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else.” The reader isn’t told how long ago the dark ages were, or what they were

about.
In a communist country, the government makes sure everyone has access to the same products and resources. In “Harrison Bergeron”, nobody has access to anything that is deemed an advantage. Those that are smarter than average are given a mental handicap in their ear that every 20 seconds sends out a noise to disrupt their thinking. The people that are stronger than others are given weights that they have to carry to drag them down. The weights were bags with lead balls in them that were hung around their necks. “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out, I don’t call that a bargain.”, this lets the reader know that anyone that takes off their handicaps was punished. The more of an advantage a person has on everyone else, the more severe the handicap.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s story, “Harrison Bergeron”, gives the reader a sense of how controlling the government could be. The reader is shown how an extreme communist government can be ruled. The story gives a sense of not having freedom and how life without it would be. The reader is forced to stop and think if the Handicapper General has a just cause, or if they have gone too far. Equality comes with a price, whether or not that price is worth it is up for the reader to decide.