Harrison Bergeron Analysis
Harrison Bergeron is a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is a about the society in America in 2081, a man called George and his wife, Hazel, and the way the society is controlling people, so they can fit into what the government call “average”, and thereby achieve the goal of being ‘equal’.
In today’s society everybody strikes to be the best, better looking and smarter than anybody else, and therefore the thought about living in a society where everyone is equal might sound tempting, if you find the race of being the best tiring. A lot of the things that most young people are struggling with right now might disappear. No more jealousy and at best no more war. There is often created a dystopian world, when humans are trying to make it a utopian one. The story about Harrison Bergeron concerns this issue. Everybody is equal, which might sound like a utopian world but in fact is a dystopian society to be living in. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the Law. They were equal in every which way. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” The meaning of the word ‘equal’ has been taking to a whole new level and it is supposed to be making the society a better place, but in fact the thing it is doing, is controlling the citizens and taking away their freedom of thought, intellectual ability and their individual beauty and strength. An intelligent person like George is forced to wear a radio that keeps their minds on an average level. Every now and then he hears a loud buzzer sound, which is distracting him from all thoughts that might be more intelligent than allowed. When all of this gets taken away from you, it is like there isn’t much left. Hazel is perfectly average and does therefore not need any handicapping devices. She does often seem quite unintelligent, despite the fact that I wouldn’t categorize being average as being stupid. An example of this is seen in the end of the story. George gets hit by a really loud sound in his radio, which Hazel responds to by saying that she could tell that one was a doozy. When George answers with the words “You could say that again”, she actually repeats herself even though it is just a saying. Hazel is also more rebellious - or perhaps just less intelligent - than George. Another example shows in the way she suggests that George should relieve himself for a moment by removing some of the heavy bag of birdshot he has to wear around his neck. George is being responsible and ignores her suggestion, despite the fact that he is exhausted. He is afraid that others might ‘follow his example’ and that the society would become as competitive as it once was.
In this society no one is their own person, which shows in the way Hazel and George home is described - or not described - “George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what were about. On the television were ballerinas.” The lack of information about their living room, tells me that there haven’t been putted a lot of effort and personality into their house. It might be had to decorate your living room, when an extremely loud buzzing sound will appear in your head at every given moment. The main thing in their lives is the television. Here the government can control the citizens by deciding which programs there will be showing. The government chooses to show ballerinas dancing. Ballet is a dance of freedom and beauty, but in this case the dance and the dancers are controlled and not much beauty is seen. “They weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sash weights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” This matches the way the society has changed. When everything is average, nothing is special or beautiful.
Early in the short story we are told that Hazel and George had a boy, which was removed from them due to his intelligence and good looks. Nevertheless he keeps thinking of him, even when his radio buzzes like crazy, this tells us that Harrison is truly missed. When Harrison shows up in the television with more handicaps than anybody, he is a symbol for the spark of rebellion there is left in some of the citizens. He is an exaggerated alpha male, a towering, brave, breathtakingly strong man who hungers for power, just what the people need to break free from the chain that is holding them trapped. When he shows up, a glimpse of hope is seen. Perhaps he will be the savior of this lost community? He fights by showing the beauty they are missing, but the government’s power is too strong and Harrison, symbol of defiance, is killed in cold blood by Diana Moon Glampers, the administrator of government power. The ending of this story tells us that there is no escape. Harrison was one of the finest men in the US, and he ended up killed, because he didn’t obey or fitted in the governments’ idea of a utopian society.
This is another typical dystopian characteristic - just as you think it will get better, everything falls apart and might just get even worse. This is seen in every dystopian story that I have read or seen. In Hunger Games a new game will begin, and the same goes for the parents in The Veldt by Ray Bradbury. It will continue and there will be no end until it is too late..
BY Maria Ginderskov