Javier Issac Arredondo
Dr. Maria D. Salinas
ENGL 1302.001
19 June 2013
Conformity amongst the Oppressed It can be said that if nobody obeys, nobody rules. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote a short story titled "Harrison Bergeron" and discusses about the equality amongst the people in every way possible in the year 2081. The short story focuses on three characters: Harrison Bergeron, his parents George and Hazel Bergeron, and the United States Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers. In the year 2081, everybody was forced to wear various types of handicaps so everyone can finally be equal amongst each other and there would not be any competition. Harrison, on the other hand, felt that he needed to overthrow the government and become the emperor of the United States. However, the attempt to overthrow progressively fails when Glampers "fired [with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun] twice, and the Emperor and [the] Empress were [killed]" (Vonnegut 221) on live television. Throughout the story, the author claims the assumption that the weights the people wear resembles what society doesn't want to see, specifically the government.
The issue about the government in the year 2081 is the idea of controlling everybody's appearance and handicap them into a very bland, mediocre society to where nobody is better than anybody. In the story, everyone was required (basically forced to in any way possible) to wear some sort of handicap so nobody won’t have any advantages against each other, but more importantly, towards the government. Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers is ordered under the government to neutralize anybody who may have the possibility to overthrow or harm the government by any means necessary. Vonnegut resembled the issue being stated when he stated that "[The people in society] were equal [in] every which way... due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th