It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments 211, 212, and 213 to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is stupider, uglier, weaker, or slower than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced.
One April, fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron is taken away from his parents, George and Hazel, by the government. George and Hazel aren’t fully aware of the tragedy. Hazel’s lack of awareness is due to average intelligence. In 2081, those who possess average intelligence are unable to think for extended stretches of time. George can’t comprehend the tragedy because the law requires him to wear a radio twenty-four hours a day. The government broadcasts noise over these radios to interrupt the thoughts of intelligent people like George.
Hazel and George are watching ballerinas dance on TV. Hazel has been crying, but she can’t remember why. She remarks on the prettiness of the dance. For a few moments, George reflects on the dancers, who are weighed down to counteract their gracefulness and masked to counteract their good looks. They have been handicapped so that TV viewers won’t feel bad about their own appearance. Because of their handicaps, the dancers aren’t very good. A noise interrupts George’s thoughts. Two of the dancers onscreen hear the noise, too; apparently, they are smart and must wear radios as well.
Hazel says she would enjoy hearing the noises that the handicappers dream up. George seems skeptical. If she were Handicapper General, Hazel says, she would create a chime noise to use on Sundays, which she thinks would produce a religious effect. The narrator explains that Hazel strongly resembles Diana Moon Glampers, Handicapper Gen...
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...nducts, waving a couple of musicians in the air like batons, and sings. They try again and do better. After listening to the music, Harrison and his empress dance. Defying gravity, they move through the air, flying thirty feet upward to the ceiling, which they kiss. Then, still in the air, they kiss each other.
Diana Moon Glampers comes into the studio and kills Harrison and the empress with a shotgun. Training the gun on the musicians, she orders them to put their handicaps on. The Bergerons’ screen goes dark. George, who has left the room to get a beer, returns and asks Hazel why she has been crying. She says something sad happened on TV, but she can’t remember exactly what. He urges her not to remember sad things. A noise sounds in George’s head, and Hazel says it sounded like a doozy. He says she can say that again, and she repeats that it sounded like a doozy.
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine even brighter. Vonnegut uses satire to explore the question of whether true equality can ever really exist.
The way that Blanche’s character was written shows a strong tendency towards a mental health issue known as Histrionic Personality Disorder. The earmarks of this illness are as follows: excessively emotional, need for an audience, shallow and rapidly shifting emotions, inappropriate sexual or provocative behavior, and does not form strong relational bonds amongst a wh...
The loss of her beloved husband kept Blanche’s mental state in the past, back when she was 16, when she only cared about her appearance. That is why at the age of 30 she avoids bright lights that reveal her wrinkles. Blanche does not want to remember the troubles of her past and therefore she attempts to remain at a time when life was simpler. This is reinforced by the light metaphor which illustrates how her life has darkened since Allan’s suicide and how the light of love will never shine as brightly for Blanche ever again. Although, throughout the play Blanche sparks an interest in Mitch, a friend of Stanley’s, who reveals in Scene three that he also lost a lover once, although his lover was taken by an illness, not suicide, and therefore he still searches for the possibility of love, when Blanche aims to find stability and security.
According to Darryl Hattenhauer, in the beginning of “Harrison Bergeron,” the narrator 's presentations of this utopia 's muddled definition of equality is “THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal…nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” Because of the Amendments 211, 212, and 213 of
Hazel is of average intelligence and in the year 2081 average intelligence meant, “She couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts” (846). The average citizen has such short attention spans that they are not capable of intelligent thought, the short bursts of thought prevents in-depth cogitation. The story begins with Hazel and her husband George watching ballerinas dancing on the television. “There were tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she she’d forgotten for the moment what they were about” (846). Hazel has the attention span ...
George a willfully ignorant man who has handicaps because of a society full of equality if one is not as good as another than the others have to have handicaps in order to be equivalent to everyone else. Hazel ignorant women who can only think of things in short bursts. George and Hazel are parents of Harrison Bergeron. George and Hazel are not likable people they unintentionally frustrate
The dancers start center-stage in a spotlight, and they are motionless for a long moment. The two dancers, on male and one female, are wearing the same outfit. On top, they are wearing a black, long-sleeved blouse. On bottom, they are wearing puffed, blue skirt/shorts. The music is cued along with the lights, and it gives the piece a sense of time as the dancers stand still for what seems like a minute. The dancers begin gesturing without feeling, and as they move out of the spotlight, the lights grow to encompass the full stage. The dancers then take turns experiencing each other’s weight in weight sharing and lifting. The lights remain the same as the dancers share weight, repeat recognizable gestures, and perform an awkward partnered dance that resembles ballroom style. The sameness of the light corresponds to the sameness of the gestures. The f...
In this story everyone has specially designed gear which is used to equalize everyone's status. The main characters are a couple who have different abilities. One is smarter but athletically declined and the other is physically inclined but holds less intelligence. They are both watching a television show when a news broadcast comes on. During the broadcast, Harrison comes in and take off his handicapping gear. Wanting to overtake the government he decides to harass the news cast but in result he is killed by another handicapped individual. This makes the couple understand and realize the truth about the idea of equality and how it would be broken if handicapping wasn't used anymore. “we judge every difference we have onto one another.” “ First being an specific color, then gender, and even now financial stability.” These characters live in a world where they are forced to be equal. Equality in this story is portrayed as being unfair, forced, and
“Tears stood on the rims of his red eyes.” George hears a sharp painful buzzer go off in his headset handicap, which makes him inevitable cry and tremble. This noise is meant to break up George’s mind so he cannot think properly. This restriction enforced by the government allows the government to control it’s citizen’s thoughts. Although it brings pain and misery to George, it does prevent him from forming rebellious thoughts against the government and its system. George, as well as the people imprisoned by these handicaps are incapable of experiencing normal daily activities such as dancing, which is something the ballerinas have trouble doing in this story due to the handicaps. George’s reaction to the painful buzzer results in him to “turn white and tremble” which shows the level of misery the handicaps can impose on someone. Instead of equalizing the society, the handicaps mainly take away the people’s freedom and free will which causes their happiness to dwindle. The handicaps not only restrict the people’s thoughts and actions but also their emotional, physical, and mental
In the year 2081, people were finally equal, and everyone was equal in every which way. No one could be more intelligent than the other or more attractive. All of the equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution. The reader may feel sorry for George Bergeron because of his tallness and his handicaps, Hazel’s normal intelligence, and the comments about their son Harrison.
Kurt Vonnegut was a socialist, many would assume this dream falls in with his beliefs. However, “Too often, [Vonnegut] warns, people assume that equality means being the same. This is simply not realistic (Labin).” Vonnegut did not believe in equality, rather he favored equal opportunity. For this reason he shows us a possible future society in which, “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” (232 Vonnegut). And this is why there are two distinct classes, average citizens with handicaps and above average citizens without handicaps. Additionally, there are two more less obvious classes, the below average citizens and the agents of the handicap ge...
In 1972, Geraldo Rivera with the help of Dr. Michael Wilkin of Staten Island's Willowbrook State School gained access to the institution and filmed the deplorable conditions the residents were living in. Now 25 years later the documentary reflects on four survivors of Staten Island's Willowbrook State School and their families. The family members give testimonials on how it felt to discover that their child had a disability, leave their loved ones in an institution, and the quality of care and services provided. The film also focuses on the progress made by the members that now live in group homes and the quality of their lives.
Just before the dance ended, a news announcement suddenly flashed on the screen. The announcement stated that Harrison Bergeron, someone who was so different from everyone, more different than cats and dogs, broke out of jail. This mad, crazy, non-equal man, was in the theatre. Everyone was scared, and trapped inside with Harrison Bergeron. The story goes along to describe how Harrison titled himself an Emperor, and he needs an Empress. With much bravery, one ballerina stood from the crowd, The ballerina was strong and amazingly animated, you could tell by the weights she held and the mask she wore. Harrison then stripped her of her handicaps, the same way he would does to the orchestra. The Emperor and the Empress danced elegantly together. “ And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang! Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well. They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun. They leaped like deer on the moon. The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it. It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.” Vonnegut drew the scene of majestic grace, as the two danced together. For only a moment, the rules of equality didn’t seem to exist. For only a moment, you could be better than your peers and for that moment, and that moment only, nothing else
After Mitch forcefully removes the paper lantern from the light bulb, Blanche “utters a frightened gasp” (1.9.14). Within the scene, the paper lantern serves yet another symbolic function. The night when Blanche meets Mitch, she asks him to place the lantern onto the light bulb. Just as the lantern protects Blanche from the light which reveals her age, it creates a façade which conceals her past. With Mitch’s love Blanche believes that the proper persona which she invented for herself could become her identity, thus magic becomes reality. However, as Mitch undresses the light bulb, he exposes Blanche vulnerabilities. Even though Mitch possesses masculinity, he does so to a lesser extent than Stanley. This passage is mildly reminiscent of Stanley and Stella’s wedding night when Stanley smashes the light bulbs in the apartment. Even though Stanley’s actions are more extreme than Mitch’s both carry a sexual connotation and reveal animalistic tendencies. Furthermore, as Mitch stares intently at Blanche in the light, “she cries out and covers her face” (1.9.25). By turning on the light, Mitch for the first time has gotten a good look at Blanche, but to do so he is violating her sense of self-worth. Although Mitch continues to berate Blanche for lying to him, he is still physically attracted to Blanche. Mitch’s cruelty is accepted by Blanche and later in the scene still asks if Mitch
In 2081, this was a dystopian society where the average was considered to be normal while being too intelligent was considered abnormal. People could not freely express themselves physically or mentally because of the laws that could be violated during this time. George and Hazel were one of many of these individuals that followed the law because of the fear of getting punished. Hazel was different than George.Hazel was a woman with an average intelligence and short-term memory while George was intelligent and his visions and thoughts were often disrupted by a loud sound in his ear caused by his handicap gear.Everyone needed to be the same or they would be a threat to society. This was because in this society being too smart was a crime just