Individuality In 'Harrison Bergeron' By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

1512 Words4 Pages

In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, the futuristic setting of 2081, demonstrates the negative impacts of excessive equality and the detrimental effects that it can have on society. The governing body in the story is provided too much power, forcing individuals to be tamed for their individuality. The laws enforce weights to be worn upon the strong and athletic, the intelligent to stick radios on or in their ears, broadcasting government messages to disrupt their concentration, and for the good looking individuals to cover their faces with a mask. Harrison Bergeron is the story 's protagonist, his parents George and Hazel, hold similar characteristics but lack Harrison’s qualities of individuality and defiance. Sympathy …show more content…

Harrison is far from ordinary, he is depicted as “exactly seven feet tall...Harrison’s appearance was Halloween and Hardware” (Vonnegut 197). Harrison being so young, he did not accept the handicaps like his father so he was placed in jail until he eventually broke out (Moore 27). The handicaps causes his appearance to be drastically affected, yet he is strong enough mentally to ignore the radios in his ears. Harrison’s strengths allow him to exploit his society 's lack of inequality but he is arrogant in the way he acts in front of the camera, shouting “I am the Emperor! Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once” (Vonnegut 198). Harrison’s actions bring him down as he becomes power hungry and a would-be dictator. “The Declaration of Independence treats the equal capacity of human beings to make judgments about their situations and those of their communities as the basis for popular government and identifies the people’s shared right to alter or abolish existing political institutions as the only true security for their freedom. And Abraham Lincoln famously summed up the founding as the birth of a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Allen). Harrison’s decision to break out of prison to hopefully shed light on the corrupt government was called for because of his God given right. Power and equality should be balanced, similar to American government today, with checks and balances. Checks and balances allow the government to work effectively but are present to “hold the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch more accountable for regulations and their outcomes” (Dudley 1027). Harrison made the mistake of claiming to be the leader of a group of people who had just listened to how he had broken out of prison and was

Open Document