Summary Of Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut

The author of “Harrison Bergeron” is Kurt Vonnegut. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 11, 1922. Vonnegut is well known for his satirical literary style, as well as the science-fiction elements in much of his work. He first published “Harrison Bergeron” in October 1961. This short story is mainly about equality for everyone and it’s a Utopian society that becomes a Dystopian society. A Utopian society is, “an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens”(“Utopia”). On the other hand, a Dystopian society is, “an imaginary society that is as dehumanizing and as unpleasant as possible”(Dystopian). The setting of “Harrison Bergeron” is incredibly futuristic, as it is timed

in the year of 2081, and it has somewhat of a “perfect” society, however, in all honesty a society cannot be perfect with the heaping amount of overrule that is shown in this short story.
In the first paragraph of Vonnegut’s short story, there are said to be about 213 Amendments to the Constitution and having an excessive number of rules can cause people to feel overwhelmed and like they have no control over their own lives.

Although rules can be helpful when it comes to keeping people in line, too many rules can cause an uproar from the people who are forced to follow them. Harrison is an example of how people may react when they are feeling overpowered and like they don’t have the slightest bit of control over their lives. Harrison came into the studio and said, "I am the Emperor! Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once! Even as I stand here crippled, hobbled, sickened - I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become!" At this point, Harrison removes all the handicap harnesses that he is forced to wear, like so many others, to make him seem equal to everyone else. These harnesses are another way the government controls the people within the story and Harrison is trying to rip free of them to unbind himself from the

law.
Due to Harrison’s outbreak and declaring that he is now the Emperor, he announces that he needs an Empress to stand along with him.

I feel as if this is an act to pull more people into his plan to upstage the government, but it didn’t quite work the way I believe Harrison hoped it would. One of the ballerinas stood with Harrison and removed her mask to reveal the beauty that the government forced her to hide so she would seem equal to those who aren’t as stunning as she. Although the scene in which the ballerina and Harrison dance together may seem like the climax of this story and it may seem like at any moment all the other people around them will begin to strip off their harnesses to dance alongside them, that would not make of an interesting story. Harrison and his ballerina are shot in front of everyone in the studio, for what reason, maybe because the government knew that this would only be the beginning of Harrison’s actions to overthrow them. As you’re reading the story, you feel some sort of hope that the government will fall, and all the rules will come crashing down, but we can’t live in that fairytale forever so Harrison and his ballerina are shot dead and your hope

shatters.
Harrison and his ballerina are the ones who are trying to make a stand, but not everyone can be like that, so Vonnegut made George Bergeron. He lives a very sad life, but who wouldn’t be sad all the time when forced to wear heavy weights and have an ear-piercing radio in their ear all the time. His wife tries to talk him into taking some of the weights off, but he is so whipped by the government that he refuses to do so. George follows all the rules and submits to the government completely and he is that man that no one wants to be, the man that sits on the sidelines and watches the world go to hell little by little and doesn’t give a second thought about what will happen to him or the people around him. “George and Hazel Bergeron have bought into the Handicapper General's propaganda hook, line, and sinker. They think it's right that George has to wear weights that tire him out and an ear radio that blasts the noise of breaking bottles directly into his brain every 20 seconds. The mere thought of changing things? Blasphemy”(Shmoop)! There are some who will say that he should be a man and go against the rules of the government for himself, but he is only one man and we all know what happened to Harrison when he tried to take a stand, so why should George try to do the same.
All in all, “Harrison Bergeron” is a scary interpretation of what our government and future lives may look like in the year 2081. Kurt Vonnegut may have either missed the interpretation by a long shot or he may have pinned the tail right on the donkey, but no one will know till that time comes. Will we be like Harrison and try to make a stand for ourselves and live our lives the way we deserve, or will we be like George and just let the government walk all over us and not have a care in the world about what happens to us? This story is either trying to tell us that we need to have all these rules to keep us in check or it is trying to tell us to push against the government and take control.