Theme In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron Theme

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if an entire society was equal? Things might turn out worse than you think. The government makes all attractive people wear masks, all strong people have to wear heavy bags of birdseed around their necks, smart people have to wear earpieces that send out ear bursting loud sounds every 20 seconds, etc. This might sound good on paper, but it can have devastating effects on a society. The theme for Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron” is that, “Everybody being equal is bad for a society.”

In the third paragraph, the story reads, “And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. he was required to wear it by law at all times.” This handicap that George has does not allow him to think straight

and use his intelligence for the better of society. The story also states, “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal.” this quote proves that everything was equal, but if everybody was equal then nobody would strive to become a better person. There would be no drive to get better and make a difference in society, because everybody would be the same as each other.
Another possible theme for Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s story is that, “Too much government control is bad for a society.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

writes, “‘Harrison Bergeron, age 14,’ she said in a grackle squawk, ‘has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.’” In the story, Harrison wears all of the top handicaps that the government can give him, and Harrison got sick of his handicaps and planned to overthrow the government and then escaped from jail. Harrison probably wouldn’t have resorted to something like this without handicaps, and he could have lived out his life helping society. The story also reads, “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.” this statement shows that many handicapped people believe that handicaps are not fair. If enough people thought this then there could be a revolution against the government--which would cause chaos throughout the entire

society.
So, a totally equal society would not end well with the society’s downfall. This would happen because no progress would be made on the study of subjects like technology and science since all people would basically think alike. So the claim, “Everybody being equal is bad for a society,” was supported by several quotes from the story. What do you think would happen if something like the events in, “Harrison Bergeron,” happened today? Would things turn out good, or bad?