Harrison Bergeron Character Traits

Harrison’s Character Analysis

When people think of heroes, they think of soldiers fighting for their country, teachers educating their students, or law enforcement watching over everyone. Some of the greatest heroes are the people inside of the society. Others are ones that aren’t noticed or the ones that have been taken away from what they have done, such as saving someone’s life, stopping suicide, simply just being there for them, or a simple act of kindness. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the government tries to accomplish equality. The handsome and pretty people wear masks, the strong are weighed down, the smart have earpieces that make a horrible sound in their ears to stop their thoughts. Only the “average” people didn’t have these handicap equipments. Then 14 year old, Harrison becomes a hero for what he tries to accomplish. He uses his super-human traits and devoted opinion to rebel against the government and free the handicapped people.

“‘He is a genius and an athlete’… exactly seven feet tall… fourteen years old… good looks… carried three hundred pounds,” (3) Harrison was known as super-human.

In the short story, he was known as “extremely dangerous” (3) and under-handicapped. For a fourteen year-old, he was tall, strong, smart, and really handsome, because of these traits he had to wear extreme handicaps. “He [wears] a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses,” (3) this is because he is smart. “Harrison [looks] like a walking junkyard,” because of all metal that weighs 300 pounds, this ss because he is strong. With his good looks, the H-G men (Handicapper General), required him to wear a red rubber ball on his nose, shave off his eyebrows, and cover his even white teeth with black caps (3). With these few traits that he has, he is known as extremely

handicapped.
Harrison is also devoted; he is determined to take over the government and take away the handicapped equipment. In the story, he is bold and brave; he bursts into the studio and said to everyone watching, that he is in charge, he is overthrowing the government. The fact that he already was planning to overthrow Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapped General, is why he was taken away from his family. Harrison is also bossy and demanding, “‘Everybody must do what I say at once!’ He stomped his foot and the studio shook” (3), when he came in, he was telling people what to do and yelling at them. Harrison is forceful and aggressive. He rips the handicapped equipment right off of the people in the studio and makes the musicians play better music. When bursts into the studio, he scares all of the people, he makes them all listen to him.
Finally, he is rebellious. He fights for what he thought was right, and did what is needed to be done. Harrison is confident in himself and the fact that he is going to overthrow the government. He wants something that could not just be handed to him, he wants freedom. “Harrison [tears] the straps of his handicap harness… [he smashes] his headphones and spectacles against the wall” (3).
Harrison is a super-human, he is devoted, and he is rebellious. He tries to take over the government and free the people from the Handicap General. He tries to stop the “equality” and save the human race. Harrison Bergeron is a hero, and he died for what is right.