In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. society has been modified into a supposed utopia by making everyone equal. In the story everyone who is deemed “above average” is brought down to average with the use of handicaps. While these handicaps work for most, some people try to challenge the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. One of these people is Harrison Bergeron, a fourteen year old boy imprisoned for trying to take down the government. In the story Harrison breaks out of prison and into a T.V studio. While there he declares himself emperor and asks the ballerinas if one of them would dare be his empress. When one stands and has her handicaps removed they dance through the air to the sound of the musicians playing
…show more content…
In their society everybody is at the same level of intelligence and beauty. Nobody is better than anyone else (Vonnegut Jr. 1). By making everyone equal they create this “utopia” where nobody has to worry about being judged or feel self conscious about their traits. This leads them to believe that everything is perfect and society is fine. The stories main characters, Hazel and George, believe that the use of handicaps is necessary, and that they should be thankful for their Handicapper General.Their belief in this is so strong that one day while talking George asks Hazel what she thinks would happen if people stopped using their handicaps, Hazel responds by saying that she thinks society will fall apart (Vonnegut Jr. 4). By saying this Hazel is insinuating that society is completely dependent on the handicaps. This thought is so ingrained into their society that when Hazel suggests that George take off his handicaps for a while George says “‘then other people'd get away with it -and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else’”(Vonnegut Jr. 3). By talking about the dark ages this shows the reader that there was a time before the handicaps where society was in shambles with everyone competing against each other. These examples show how prominent the illusion of utopia is in “Harrison
In their society everybody is at the same level of intelligence and beauty. Nobody is better than anyone else (Vonnegut Jr. 1). By making everyone equal they create this “utopia” where nobody has to worry about being judged or feel self conscious about their traits. This leads them to believe that everything is perfect and society is fine. The stories main characters, Hazel and George, believe that the use of handicaps is necessary, and that they should be thankful for their Handicapper General.Their belief in this is so strong that one day while talking George asks Hazel what she thinks would happen if people stopped using their handicaps, Hazel responds by saying that she thinks society will fall apart (Vonnegut Jr. 4). By saying this Hazel is insinuating that society is completely dependent on the handicaps. This thought is so ingrained into their society that when Hazel suggests that George take off his handicaps for a while George says “‘then other people'd get away with it -and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else’”(Vonnegut Jr. 3). By talking about the dark ages this shows the reader that there was a time before the handicaps where society was in shambles with everyone competing against each other. These examples show how prominent the illusion of utopia is in “Harrison