Kurt Vonnegut's Eight Rules Of Harrison Bergeron

Authors in the 1900s created short stories by writing short books that they could sell for quick cash. This is how the genre of short stories came about. As more and more stories were published, shorts became very popular because they were so short. Many people loved the idea that they could finish an entire story in one sitting. As the stories became more popular, Kurt Vonnegut, a short story writer, developed a list of 8 rules that make a perfect short story. He executes his rules in his short stories giving many examples of what the standard for short story writing should be.

Vonnegut's first rule states that one should "use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted." Harrison Bergeron is a story for anyone who lives in today's uptight and busy society. With a total length of 8 pages, the story of Harrison Bergeron explores the issues of equality and cultural issues. The story begins with "The year

was 2081, and everybody was finally equal" (7). The word finally represents the struggle Americans deal with about always trying to be better than the next. It seems that in our society today, you have to have the nicest car, nicest house, or best looking spouse. Vonnegut pokes fun at this norm while revealing what is wrong with our culture. After I finished the last page, which ended with a dark joke, I found myself questioning my actions and the norms of society.

While Vonnegut puts importance on not wasting time, he also believes that one should "give the reader at least one character he or she can root for". There isn't a better story that gives the reader someone to root for then Who Am I This Time. Harry and Helene, two average people, who meet through a play convince the reader to root for them and their relationship. "Don't you want to see what my favorite scene is?" (26). Helene hopefully asks Harry after the big play they both starred in. Symbolizing her love for her co-star, her statement is a turning point where she reaches out to Harry in order to begins relationship with him. This is the moment that the reader has been waiting for and hoping would happen throughout the novel. Finally, the characters who the readers root for, have a happy ending giving the reader a sense of fulfillment.

Every story needs a plot and this is where Vonnegut's third rule comes into play. "Every character should want something, even if it's a glass of water." Welcome To The Monkey House is a story that represents society in the way that everybody in the story wants something. Billy the Post, a man who goes around the fictional society and deflowers the many women on the government required ethical birth control, kidnapped a nurse named Nancy and "deflowered her with clinical skill" (47). From Billy the Poet wanting to free the world from its chains to Nancy just hoping she can be freed from the kidnaping of billy the poet. Each character has a different goal which makes the story so intriguing when their very different desires collide.

Vonneguts short stories are special in the way that he doesn't write just to hear himself right. Everything he talks about has a purpose. He lives out his fourth rule more than any other.
It states "every sentence must do one of two things, reveal character or advance the action." In the opening sentence of Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog, Vonnegut tells the reader the setting, introduces the characters, and sets the tone of the story. It goes "Two old men sat on a park bench one morning in the sunshine of Tamp, Florida- one trying doggedly to read a book he was plainly enjoying while the other, Harold K. Bullard, told him the story of his life in full, round, head tones of a public address system" (111). This one sentence does so many things to reveal the characters and push the story along. Vonnegut is a master of packing a lot of detail and importance into each one of his sentences and you cannot find a sentence in any of his stories that could be removed without effecting the storyline.

The biggest theme that is emphasized while writing short stories is keeping them short! Vonnegut's fifth rule of short story writing is to "start as close to the end as possible". Many of his stories start and end in the same setting or place they were began in. For example, the story EPICAC starts and ends with the same two characters in the same room they began in.
Analysis: another very short story in length, this story provides little detail about setting but just provides two images- a super computer called EPICAC and a man in need of love advice. The story starts and ends with these two images. As I read this story, I didn't ever feel lost between multiple settings and ended up feeling content with the bareness of the story.

Although Vonnegut's second rule is to "give the reader someone they can root for", his sixth rule is to "be a sadist. No matter how innocent and sweet your leading characters are, make awful things happen to them- in order that the reader may see what they are made of". Anyone who has ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place can understand what Colonel Kelly goes through in All the Kings Horses. Captured by an Asian enemy, his wife and kids, and a dozen other soldiers become prisoners of war. When the guerrilla leader gives the Colonel his only chance for freedom, it comes in the form a chess match. The Colonel, soldiers, and his family are the chess pieces and someone dies when a piece gets taken. Faced with the greater good of the group and the individual lives of each soldier and his son, the reader cannot help but feel sorry for the pain the Colonel is put through. The reader finds out how strong minded and willing the Colonel is because of this test he is put through.

Continuing off of his sixth rule, Vonnegut's seventh rule states that one should "write to please just one person. If you open your window and make love to the world so to speak, your story will get pneumonia". You can't please everyone. It is simply impossible. Deer In The Works was not written to please everyone. It is a story that pleases those who interpret in a pleasing way. The story ends "The deer bucked and sprinted along the fence toward David. David unwired the gate, opened it wide. A second later the deer's white tail was flashing through the woods and gone... And David stepped into the woods and closed the gate behind him" (237). While many can argue this story's ending is vague and meaningless, it is those who can see the truth and hope behind it that will enjoy it. The ending will only please those who are optimistic and rooting for David. Everyone is a critic, and this story embodies not trying to please them all.

Lastly, Vonnegut believes that a writer should "give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible.

To heck with suspense. Readers should have a full and complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves should cockroaches eat the last few pages". Everyone hates to be out of the loop or not be get in on an inside joke. Vonnegut is saying that when writing short stories, the reader should always be in the loop. In The Euphio Question, right away the audience is introduced to the main plot point of the entire story. "Lew, Fred, and I found peace of mind by sitting in easy chairs and turning on a gadget the size of a table model television set" (189). The quote provides the reader with everything they need to know up front and once the action begins, it would be very easy for any reader to finish the story in their own. As I began to read, about halfway through it I was already predicting the ending. As it turned out, my predictions were

correct.

Vonnegut as a writer embodies the essence of all eight rules and truly knows how to create the perfect short story. Almost all of his works include all eight of his rules in each story and his demonstration of his rules in his works reiterates how great of a writer he is. Vonnegut was a trend setter and shaped short story writing to what it is today.