Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Imagine living in a world where everyone is the same. The same physical features, the same intellectual status; Life would be awful. The year is 2081, and amendments 211 through 213 of the Constitution are added, forcing everyone to be equal, which ultimately means no one is uglier, slower, or weaker than anyone else. To make sure that everyone is equal, the government issues out handicappers to anyone who might be considered a threat or intimidation to society. The handicapper General and a group of city agents ensure that all the laws are enforced, and everyone keeps their handicappers on. My senior class studied a short story by Kurt Vonnegut named Harrison Bergeron, which I described earlier in my essay. Harrison, the protagonist of the story, stands out in a magnificent way. He decides that he will not let his individuality be thrown down the drain and stands up for himself, at any cost.

As a fourteen-year-old, Bergeron was taken away from his parents George and Hazel by the government. They then place him in jail, because they believe he is too strong. In fact, he is so strong and more advanced than everyone, that he wears more handicappers than the rest. Harrison, who is seven feet tall, is forced to wear

more than a hundred pounds of metal, glasses to damage his sight and give him headaches, black caps on his teeth, and not to mention, he was a very handsome man. One day, he escapes from jail with his empress with the hopes of overthrowing the government.

Although they escaped, Bergeron's parents never knew.

His mother, Hazel, was about as average as the next person intellectually so she was allowed to think, but only in short increments. George, Harrison's father, was smarter than the average person so by law is forced to wear an earpiece that goes off every 20 seconds, preventing him from thinking of something for too long. Throughout the short story, examples show that Harrison's family has become immune with the way life is. His father states "If I try to get away with it, then other people'd get away with it, and soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everyone in competition." This suggests that his father is not willing to fight for his freedom and simply goes with the flow of

things.

Bergeron did not want to live the life of an average citizen though. Deep down he knew that he had something special to offer the world, and the government was holding him back. By forcing everyone to be equal, the government kills any possibility of anybody becoming an entrepreneur, or being able to choose their own platforms in life. It was not his will and hunger to live as a normal pedestrian that makes him stand out. The fact that he took action to make a better life for him and his family, even if that meant death is.