Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Only through the works of fiction can we fathom upon the idea of living within a utopia, a state where we are all “equal.” The idea of equality and to be able to within a utopian like state is farfetched and is naive for we humans have only created the opposite and seem to move further away from any progress. The core focus or theme of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is that the pursuit for total equality is a dangerous and foolish ideal that is not tangible and has poor execution which leads to dire outcomes. Vonnegut’s purpose for writing “Harrison Bergeron” serves as a satirical piece as it points out the flaws within the Civil Rights Movement and present day we can see how Vonnegut’s piece serves more as a warning as neo-liberals and

Vonnegut’s satirical work of fiction was published in 1961 to critique the Civil Rights Movement and address those in the movement that advocated the idea of total equality. Vonnegut feared that our quest for complete equality or egalitarianism would in the end cost us our freedom and individuality. We now live in an age of colorblindness and political correctness which are the byproducts of skewed neo-liberal ideology that humans should be equal but to what extend are we willing to go to achieve such means; does the ends justify the means when we longer have any sort of freedom? No; Martin Luther King Jr. and Kurt Vonnegut both advocated equality but understood equality is not supposed to become an ideal used to condemn and oppress and both truly advocated for the tearing down the walls of oppression and segregation that creates race and class warfare. Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” that was written on April 16, 2963, addressed his fellow clergy men as he wrote, “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” (King 1963). King addressed his fellow clergy men whom he believe had stray from the path of what he wanted to accomplish and what he wanted the Civil Rights Movement to be which was for the most part a nonviolent act of civil disobedience to bring social change. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that only through bring awareness and the breaking of unjust laws which allowed and promoted segregation and racism was key in moving forward to address race relations in the United States. Through breaking unjust laws, King believed that others will realize how unjust the law is and empathize with those who have been wrongly prosecuted and call for change. King’s approach and end goal was not to have total equality but